Enjoying Warm Island Breezes
March 28, 2025
As gentle spring breezes rustle the palms under mild skies, we are reminded that this is one of the sweetest times of the year to be enjoying the pleasures of island life. The bustling crowds fade as April comes in with Earth Day, Easter, and a focus on family and fun here in Key West.
Earth Day Every Day in Key West
The change of seasons may be muted here in tropical paradise, but this time of year still brings a sense of renewal and fresh possibilities. The weather is fine, the fishing is great, conditions are perfect for golf, biking, bird watching, and other outdoor activities—it just does not get much better than mid-springtime in Key West. We look forward to April on the island, when the focus tends to shift to events centered around family, children, and our natural island home.
It is always Earth Day here in Key West, but with the official internationally-recognized Earth Day coming up on Tuesday April 22, you can of course expect some special events to show up on the schedule in a setting where so much of life is centered on the unique and beautiful natural environment around us.
The City of Key West has proclaimed this day as Earth Action Day, with several celebratory events planned for April 19 and 22 including a 5K run/walk on April 19 at Truman Waterfront Park, an Earth Day event on April 22 at Indigenous Park on the corner of White Street and Atlantic Boulevard, and an early bird Old Town street litter cleanup with volunteers meeting at Mallory Square on Friday April 25 to pick up litter from 5 AM to 6 AM.
Key West Mayor Danise “DeeDee” Henriquez and the Key West City Commission have turned an Earth Day focus on our island trees with the designation of April 25 as Arbor Day. In recognition, from 10 AM to 2 PM on April 27, Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden Executive Director Misha McRAE and her team in collaboration with the City of Key West and the Monroe County Extension Service will host a free Eco-Arbor Day Fair at the Garden, just across the bridge on Stock Island at 5210 College Road. On tap are tours of the Garden and Native Nursery, plant sales, and ecology- and gardening-focused workshops and children’s activities.
A Time to Plant
Arbor Day is typically celebrated on the last Friday in April in the U.S. This national and now international recognition of the importance of planting and appreciating trees dates back to 1872, when Nebraska land owner, journalist, and tree planter Julius Sterling Morton proposed the idea to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture. The first Arbor Day was observed on April 10, 1872 with an estimated one million trees planted across Nebraska.
(Image in the Public Domain)
Key West has been a member of the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA program for 13 years. In a related and noteworthy effort, students at the Key West Montessori Children’s School, with support from the Key West Botanical Garden and the Monroe County Extension Service, will be working throughout the month of April on phase two of a project to correctly name, label, and tag the native trees in the Key West City Hall landscape.
Key West homeowners new and old will want to mark their calendars for the Earth Day 2026 shade tree giveaway by Keys Energy Services, a Public Power utility that provides power to Key West and the Lower Florida Keys. Held in even numbered years, the 22nd bi-annual edition of the event comes up next year at the Keys Energy Service Building in Key West (1001 James Street) and at the company’s Blimp Road site (755 Blimp Road, between Valencia & Asturias roads). All Keys Energy customers are eligible to choose two free native shade trees on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last.
The shade tree giveaway began in 1994 as part of a nationwide public power program called TREE POWER sponsored by the American Public Power Association. Keys Energy has distributed over 40,000 native shade trees to customers in Key West and the Lower Keys. In 2004 Keys Energy reached the goal of one tree planted for every customer it serves, earning the American Public Power Association Golden Tree Award.
Any homeowner who has priced shade trees at a nursery knows this giveaway is a great opportunity, and combining free landscape plantings with cooling, energy-saving shade and beautification of our island home is a win-win situation.
Going Out Like a Lamb
It has been a fine March here in the Southernmost City, with mild temperatures in the comfortable range, mostly clear skies, and no precipitation of note. A perfect round out of the early spring season and a great introduction to April, a month that will see plenty of enjoyable activities for locals and island visitors alike.
In addition to Earth Day, Easter is always fun on the island, with family highlights beginning on April 13 with the Easter Bunny, an egg hunt, and local music at Easter on the Farm, 1 PM to 3 PM at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm petting zoo. With the annual Truman Little White House Easter Egg Roll on Saturday April 19, an egg hunt at the Higgs Beach Key West Artisan Market on Sunday April 20, and of course the standard round of Easter brunches, parties, and other adult events, there will be something to do nearly every week of the month.
This is a pleasant and peaceful time of year to be in Key West, and a great season for prospective home buyers to get a feel for what local island life is like. Browse our Key West real estate website to explore the lovely homes available here in Key West and the Lower Keys, then contact us to arrange some virtual home tours with one of our Bascom Grooms Real Estate professionals. Or plan an in-person Key West visit that combines home-buying business with vacation pleasure in our unique Key West style.
Bascom Grooms Real Estate—1110 Truman Avenue, Key West Florida—(305) 295-7511—info@bascomgrooms.com
