I’m often asked by patients how much water they need to drink each day. The Institute of Medicine has calculated that men need about 13 cups or three quarts of liquids and women need about nine cups or two quarts of liquids daily. We also ingest approximately 2 ½ cups, or 20 percent of our daily intake of liquids from food, especially fruits and vegetables. In addition, beverages that we commonly drink such as coffee, juice, milk and soda are composed mostly of water.

- Submit Datebook items to [email protected] or drop off press releases or photos at 5215 Scotts Valley Drive, Ste. F, Scotts Valley 95066. Deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday. Entries are subject to editing, and publication is not guaranteed.

Under blue skies on a perfect spring day I sat recently with Colly Gruczelak, my friend, fellow columnist and gardening enthusiast, surrounded by roses, roses and more roses. Next to an old apple tree and a gnarled cherimoya we enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch Colly brought while she shared stories about this rose nursery we were visiting called Roses of Yesterday.

- Submit Datebook items to [email protected] or drop off press releases or photos at 5215 Scotts Valley Drive, Ste. F, Scotts Valley 95066. Deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday. Entries are subject to editing, and publication is not guaranteed.

Kiwanis Club of Scotts Valley

Visiting gardens is one of my passions. Wherever I travel I take time to enjoy an arboretum or a historical garden when I find them. Local gardens can be just as exciting, and recently I was invited to stroll and marvel under majestic oaks in a beautiful garden near Quail Hollow.