Our community’s beloved and bountiful botanical gardens serve as a verdant oasis. Botanicafiles assembled today for the unveiling of the next stage of its development – and a new, Greteman Group-designed identity.

It’s lively and fun. Classic floral hues get reinterpreted in a contemporary way. A central butterfly shape represents the garden’s ever-evolving, cyclical nature and pays homage to the must-experience Butterfly House. (You simply must catch a live butterfly release sometime.)

It was a beautiful, cooler-than-usual August day. And I have to say, the gardens have never looked lovelier. I plan on going back again soon. Breathing in the scents. Experiencing the calm. And hoping I inspire my green thumb to create a little magic in my own backyard.

What’s your favorite part of Botanica? I’m a Woodland Walk girl myself.

Urban Spoon, the wildly popular iPhone app, has finally launched in Wichita. Let the rejoicing commence!

This app’s brilliance is found in its simplicity, doing one thing and doing it well. As the iPhone commercial says, it answers the age-old question “What are we doing for dinner tonight?” And it does a pretty decent job of offering up viable suggestions. Combine its functionality with a clean, fun interface and there’s little wonder why it’s one of the top 10 most popular apps.

But our favorite aspect of UrbanSpoon is that it’s powered by people. Is your favorite Thai restaurant not showing up? Go to UrbanSpoon.com and get it added. Is there a restaurant that keeps showing up in an incorrect category? Go to the website and make a suggestion. It’s truly community-driven.

We’re pumped that the time spent on our “where-are-we–going–to-lunch-today” conversations are about be cut in half – now we just have to make sure we don’t fill that time trying to master TapDefense.

What do you think about UrbanSpoon?