☀️It's spring in New Jersey, get outside and see nature's miracles!

Good Friday morning! It's April 19 and you are reading "The Sunny Side."☀️

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I hope you all survived Tax Day on Monday. Taxes, math and the IRS — a terrible day for sure.

Anyway, no more talk of taxes or math, this is supposed to be a good news newsletter after all.

Spring's beauty

This week I want to talk about the beauty of spring in New Jersey. Around this time of year, the world around us in North Jersey goes from brown and gray to bright green. I love watching it happen.

My raised herb garden has been planted and I love watching it grow. In a month or so I will start using fresh herbs in my cooking.

During this time of year, I love taking walks and seeing all the spring flowers pushing through the soil and the trees gaining new leaves. I like to think of these as tiny miracles.

Even though the process is explained through science, to me it's still a miracle. Take for instance the new leaves on the trees. Where does the material for those new leaves come from?

I should have listened to my biology teacher

I really have no idea. I should have paid closer attention in my high school biology class. I think if I went to high school now at my age, I would get so much more out of it than I did as a teenager.

Anyway, back to the leaves. (I had to look up the answer to this, by the way.) Before the leaves sprout no photosynthesis can occur and no carbohydrates can be produced. So how do we get those new leaves? "The answer is that some of the smaller carbohydrate molecules such as sugars and starches were stored in the tree, mainly in the roots, during the previous summer and fall, and it is these stored non-structural carbohydrates that travel up the tree and out into the buds to become the first green leaves of spring."

Beautiful right?

That information comes from Jim Stanley, a Texas master naturalist and the author of the book “Hill Country Landowner’s Guide.” (His explanation can be found here.) He writes that this small miracle is not unique to trees, as a similar process takes place in all other perennial deciduous plants including grasses, flowering plants and shrubs.

I bet now you want to get out and observe this process in person. You are in luck because there are soo many places in North Jersey where you can go, walk, enjoy the warmer weather and observe these tiny miracles of nature.

Botanical gardens and arboretums in North Jersey

My colleague Maddie McGay compiled a list of botanical gardens and arboretums to visit in North Jersey . Click the link for the full story and descriptions or look below for a brief recap.

• The New Jersey Botanical Gardens in Ringwood is also home to Skylands Manor, a 1920s-era building with an architectural design reminiscent of the Tudor-revival style. Go: 2 Morris Road, Ringwood; 973-962-9534, njbg.org .
• Rutgers Gardens is a 180-acre site down the road from Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Go: 112 Log Cabin Road, North Brunswick Township; 848-932-7000, rutgersgardens.rutgers.edu .
• Presby Memorial Iris Gardens in Montclair is known for its stunning collection of irises that bloom during the spring. Go: 474 Upper Mountain Ave., Montclair; 973-783-5974, presbyirisgardens.org .
• The Thielke Arboretum, a 16-acre wetland forest centrally located in Glen Rock full of nature trails and gardens, as well as a spring-fed pond and Diamond Brook. Go: 460 Doremus Ave., Glen Rock; 201-675-0947, thielkearboretum.org .
• Van Vleck House and Gardens in Montclair is a non-profit community resource that features a botanical garden with plant species that have been developed over several generations. Go: 21 Van Vleck St., Montclair; 973-744-4752, montclairfoundation.org .
• The Leonard J. Buck Garden is a botanical and woodland garden in a 33-acre wooded stream valley in Far Hills. Go: 11 Layton Road, Far Hills; 908-722-1200, somersetcountyparks.org/leonard-j-buck-garden .

• Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris Township features 29 attractions , including 18 gardens, the Haggerty Education Center, Matilda's Café and an observation deck. Go: 353 E Hanover Ave., Morristown; 973-326-7601, arboretumfriends.org .
• The Essex County Rose Garden is located in the middle of Brookdale Park in Montclair and has a 15,000-square-foot garden with 25 beds of hybrid tea, floribunda, shrub, hybrid musk, polyantha, rugosa and antique roses. Go: Division Street and Wildwood Avenue, 973-268-3500, brookdalepark.org/park-features .
• Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills was once a private estate and is surrounded by 2,110 acres of preserved parkland with terraced gardens, woodlands, meadows, grottoes, foundations and winding paths. Go: 274 Old Short Hills Road, Shorts Hill; 973-258-4026, greenwoodgardens.org .

• Laurelwood Arboretum in Wayne is a 30-acre botanical property that consists of woodland trails and gardens, wildlife, ponds, streams and hundreds of varieties of azaleas, rhododendrons and other species of plants and trees. Go: 725 Pines Lake Drive W, Wayne; 973-831-5675, laurelwoodarboretum.org .

If a hike is more your thing, check out these spots:

• The Pochuck Boardwalk section of the Appalachian Trail, Vernon
• The Stairway to Heaven, Vernon
• Wildcat Ridge Hawkwatch, Rockaway
• Tourne County Park, Denville
• South Mountain Fairy Trail, Millburn
• Various trails at Stokes State Forest, Sussex County
• The Giant Stairs Trail at Palisades Interstate Park, Bergen County

If you want more ideas on where to go and what to do in North Jersey this spring, check out this story from my colleague Amanda Wallace.

Get out there and enjoy the beauty of New Jersey in spring. Send me your photos and suggestions of other great places to visit to sportelli@northjersey.com .

Some good news stories

• As the temperatures rise, and blossoms bloom like a dream, one thought fills the mind of Kara VanDooijeweert, food writer for The Record and NorthJersey.com — ice cream. She's my kind of person!!!! In her latest story, she writes about all the great ice cream places you can go to in North Jersey. I'm thankful for Kara!!! Check out her story here.

• If you love to shop, you'll be thrilled to know that an opening date has been set for the new Burlington Stores set to open at the River Front Center on Route 3 west in Clifton. Once the home of Bed Bath & Beyond, 404 Route 3 will house Burlington, an off-price department store once known as Burlington Coat Factory. Check out the full story here.

• North Jersey is pretty pumped about World Cup 2026 coming to MetLife and the area - that's a given, but how will the state handle the event? Reporters Katie Sobko and Colleen Wilson got their hands on the state's contract and learned New Jersey agreed to free public transportation for World Cup ticket holders — even as NJ Transit recently approved a 15% fare hike to plug budget deficits. Read their story here.

Gallery(s) of the week

So, this week I couldn't decide which gallery to use, so I'll give you two.

The first gallery has photos of adorable puppies in a puppy yoga class photographed by my very talented colleague Anne-Marie Caruso. This is the type of yoga class I want to take.

The second gallery brings you photos of The New Jersey Hall of Fame as it unveiled Thomas Alva Edison’s Model T car , which Henry Ford gifted to him. This event was photographed by the equally talented Michael Karas.

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Send me your good news

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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: ☀️It's spring in New Jersey, get outside and see nature's miracles!