Jenny Lake Grand Tetons

Day One of #ALEX14 at Phelps Lake was filled with inspiring beauty and set the stage for the remainder of the trip. The second day of the National Park Foundation's expedition brought even more inspiring beauty, but outdid itself by introducing us to inspiring people at Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons.

I have been writing about and photographing gardens and plants since I was in my 20s. Whenever I have met others outside of gardening and garden writing, I got the impression that people were often surprised by the amount of gardening knowledge I knew and how I communicate it to others. "He's so knowledgeable," I've heard people say. Sometimes they commented on how "young" I was, as if being young and knowledgeable were mutually exclusive traits. Honestly, sometimes I wondered if there wasn't some kind of racial or ethnic bias behind the surprised at my "youth" and experience.