Re: Arizona Gardens

---

 

 

On Tue, 2 Apr 2002 14:32:42 EST R*@aol.com writes:
> I will be traveling in the Phoenix/Sedona area of Arizona next week. 
> What
> are some lesser known or "hidden" gardens or garden related places I
> should
> visit?  I already plan on stopping at the Phoenix Dessert Botanical
> Gardens
> (not exactly lesser know :>)).

Dear Sandie,

 

One of my writers wrote extensively on Arizona and thereabouts. You are welcome to use it as a guide. (Of course, it is not for publication.) See below.

 

Fran Gustman, Editor
HortResources Newsletter
Boston, MA
f*@juno.com

 

 

THE TRAVELING GARDENER

 

GARDENS IN

ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO

Bob Huffman

 

The desert southwest of Arizona and New Mexico is a popular touring region, especially in the winter months, when the "snowbirds" congregate in Phoenix and Tucson to escape the bitter winter up north. There are also visitors to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, but these cities are high desert, at 6,000 and 5,000 feet respectively and so they have a winter, although it is milder than our own here in New England.

           

As you may know, I have a house in Albuquerque and have spent quite a bit of time in this part of the country. If you have specific interests, please let me know as I may be able to suggest other places to visit other than those I mention in these articles.

 

As an amateur, I, like most people, like to cover all aspects of an area when touring; the birds, the geology, the animals, the cultures, the history, and so forth are of interest to me. This approach will seep into the reviews.

 

 

DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN

PHOENIX, ARIZONA

kkkkk Outstanding, must see

           

The Desert Botanical Garden is a major cultural asset to the Phoenix region, with all of the features of a first class institution. Located in Papago Park, near the upscale suburbs of Scottsdale and Tempe, the garden is a pleasant place to spend all day and into the evening. The garden opens early and, when I arrived, there were plenty of serious photographers ready to catch the early light. In early May, it closed at 8 pm. There is a special charm in hot-country gardens early and late in the day.

 

The garden is especially strong on interpretation. There are excellent trail guides and, during the popular hours, the many docents are eager to talk about cacti and creosote bushes. The main path is called the Desert Discovery Trail. It is paved and handicapped-accessible and pleasantly landscaped. It passes specialty areas with side trails covering Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert, Sonoran Desert Nature Trail, and the Center for Desert Living.

 

The main trail also goes past the Webster Center and the restaurant area. Weddings and organization dinners are popular, so you may get to hear some mariachi music while touring. Giant saguaro jam is offered to all garden visitors by the docents. It is the color of raspberry and is tasty on crackers. You will appreciate what wonders these trees are once you understand a bit about deserts. I have been to this garden twice and each time it was a great experience.

 

BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM STATE PARK

SUPERIOR, ARIZONA

kkkkk Outstanding, must see

           

This very special garden allows you a glimpse of the major desert areas of our country, situated as it is on the border of the Sonoran Desert (think giant saguaro) and the Chihuahuan Desert (think no saguaro but lots of yuccas and similar plants). The Sonoran is mainly in Arizona, while the Chihuahuan is mainly in the state of that name in Mexico, and also in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The Thompson Arboretum was started as a vision of Colonel Thompson to find useful and ornamental plants from all over the world. The arboretum can be visited on a day trip from Phoenix, but I stayed in the nearby town of Globe, among striking scenery.

 

The garden can occupy a whole day as it did for me. I walked the one and one-half mile main trail. It started with a formal, colorfully landscaped area of arid-lands plants in excellent flower, ice plants, aloes, and claret cup cacti. It continued through forested areas, past research greenhouses, up by the reservoir that waters the garden, near the cliffside house of Colonel Thompson, and then around the other side of the Magma Ridge. Magma Ridge is the centerpiece of the garden and is circled by the main trail. The rock, extruded by volcanic action, is harder than the surrounding rock and has remained after erosion in a formation which is half a mile long but only a few hundred yards wide and 1000 feet high.

           

The trail plunges down into as lush a riparian, or riverside, habitat as you would want. Along the banks of Queen Creek, in the shade of the ridge, trees, grasses, and reeds dominate. The vegetation is strikingly different from that of the arid regions beyond it.

 

Heading back toward the visitor center, you come through pine plantations. Following that is the Australian section with many eucalyptus trees, called gum trees by the Aussies. A new trail will feature many of the plants of Australia, as the climate matches parts of the Outback. [See Sally Williams on Australia, following article.]               (continued following page)

 

ARIZONA (continued from previous page)

There was no restaurant but, at the pleasant visitors center, there was a collection of foods, healthy and junk, and coffee. At the impressive bookstore, the staff was knowledgeable and friendly. I ate and plunged back into the gardens, photographing, trying to cover all of the trails. One section of the garden demonstrated home landscaping ideas for arid lands, simulating home gardens with patios; the gardens do a big business in selling desert plants.

 

Perhaps the most unusual trail was called the Curandero Trail. "Curandero" means folk healer in Spanish; this trail highlights how desert plants were used as folk remedies by Native Americans and Hispanics. Other peoples are only beginning to appreciate the wisdom behind the uses of these plants.

       

Tonto National Monument has an easily accessible trail that afforded a fine look at saguaro cacti and many other desert plants. The Monument preserves several cliffside ruins of native dwellings, reachable by a paved, one-half mile path. Labels allowed me to rapidly learn about the local flora. From the trail, sweeping views overlook mountains covered with cacti, toward Roosevelt Lake, a large reservoir on the Salt River. Tonto National Monument is located on Highway 88 between Globe and the Roosevelt Dam. It is on the Apache Trail, about which I have one caveat. A portion of this trail is unpaved and mountainous; if you are uncomfortable with good ol' boys driving fast, hauling boats and trailers behind pickups, eager to get to marinas, you might skip this section of the road. However, I photographed spectacular "hen and chicks" Sempervirens with large red and yellow blooms among the rocks along the Apache Trail.

 

Arizona gardens which I have not yet visited, but which have been recommended, include Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson and The Arboretum at Flagstaff (best in summer).

RIO GRAND BOTANIC GARDEN

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

kkk Visit if possible

           

The Rio Grande Botanic Garden fills a long-felt need for a botanic garden around Albuquerque. It displays both plants of the area and of similar areas around the world. It is one of three institutions in the Biological Park (Bio Park) which include a zoo and an aquarium. This operation is special to me because the citizens voted a tax upon themselves to pay for it.

           

The gardens include a walled Spanish-influenced formal garden, native plant sections, a huge lawn and pond, and a conservatory for American southwestern plants and Mediterranean plants. My only complaint, although I recognize that the Garden is just getting started, is the labeling. However the plants are well-maintained and sometimes you can learn more from a small garden than from a massive institution. Do not miss the arbor, or ramada, on the other side of the conservatories, made from dead saguaro "logs" with a roof of dried ocotillo branches.

 

The Aquarium is located nearby and has a good and reasonably priced restaurant. The Zoo is a short drive away. All in all, the Bio Park is a first class addition to the city. It is near a popular tourist attraction called Old Town, west of downtown Albuquerque, where you can shop for anything southwestern.

 

In addition, at the nearby Rio Grande Nature Center State Park, you can walk to the Rio Grande and see that, yes, there is a lot of water in it.

 

Also in New Mexico is the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Carlsbad, a very interesting, well-supported garden. Of course, most visitors want to see Carlsbad Caverns but I warn you that once you have seen Carlsbad all other caves will seem a little dull.

 

In the summer, do not fail to drive to the top of the Sandia Mountains, where you are a mile above mile-high Albuquerque and the Rio Grande is a silver ribbon in the distance. Walk the Sandia Crest trail amongst the whitish limestone ledges. Here alpine wildflowers are lush in the meadows between spruce and fir.

 

Dr. Robert E. Huffman is a freelance writer, specializing in gardens, environmental issues, and travel. He is a retired space scientist, a home gardener, and a photographer. Bob is a former editor of HortResources Newsletter and a former garden columnist for the Sudbury Town Crier.

 

Here's more:

 

 

THe Travelling Gardener

 

GARDENS OF ARIZONA AND

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Bob Huffman

       

This past March, I investigated gardens around Los Angeles and Tucson. On the drive from Albuquerque, I passed from east to west through three desert ecosystems, the Chihuahuan, the Sonoran, and the Mohave, before winding up in the lush splendor of the Pacific coast.

       

I wished to see the fabled desert wildflowers in the parks in the California deserts, but calls to several wildflower hotlines were discouraging. The winter had been very dry, and there was not going to be much of a display. No matter how ecstatic the guidebook, find out about the local conditions through the wildflower hotlines before making a trip. With the grim report, I decided to spend more time in botanical gardens and zoos, where irrigation had allowed for a good display of spring wild flowers.

 

TUCSON, ARIZONA

My cousin in Tucson pointed out that Arizona is really an urban state, as most of the people live in the crowded Phoenix and Tucson areas. The desert is, however, literally across the street, wherever there is no irrigation. There is a lot for the plants person to do and I did not see it all. I skipped nearby Mount Lemmon, because the alpines were resting under the snow in March.

 

ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM

kkkkImpressive, worth a detour

 

A few miles west of the urban area, beyond some small mountains, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum provides a way to learn about the Sonoran Desert. The Sonoran Desert has as its signature plant the big saguaro cactus, the one that looks like a person with upraised arms and that can grow over twenty feet tall. (Saguaro is pronounced "say-wear-oh," as near as I can make it out.) Admission is charged to maintain the non-profit museum, a large, popular, full-service place, with a lot of docents to help out, several restaurants, and a well-stocked gift shop. Being it is Arizona, a senior citizen is not a novelty, especially in the winter, and there was no senior discount.

 

Along the trails, thousands of species of shrubs, trees, and cacti have been arranged in desert ecosystems. These include the desert grasslands, which form the fringe around the true deserts, and the sought-after waterside areas, found in canyons near the mountains, where there are wetland plants like mosses and ferns.

 

No facet of nature is overlooked. Impressive collections of animals, birds, insects, and snakes are shown in natural settings of plants. Fungi and lichens are displayed. Life underground is especially well demonstrated. There are mineral displays, with a model of a mine. The setting is impressive--on a slope overlooking a basin, with snow-capped peaks on the other side.

 

Plan also to visit the western part of the SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK, only a short drive away. There is a striking new visitor’s center and short and long walking trails with signs to identify the desert plants.

 

TOHONO CHUL PARK

kkk Visit if possible

 

The Tohono Chul Park, within the Tucson urban area, is the place to see desert plants in a natural setting. The name means "desert corner" in the Tohono O’odham language. The garden has nice landscaped terraces and demonstration gardens, greenhouses, and plants organized by family along loop trails that wander through the brush. Native plants are on sale. The Tea Room is popular for functions.

 

I particularly enjoyed the Ethnobotanical Garden with varieties of plants favored by local Native Americans. The majority of the plants are actually Old World plants, like peas and onions, introduced by the Spanish, but grown by Native Americans now for hundreds of years.

 

See this park if at all possible. There is a nice, relaxed air about the place.

 

TUCSON BOTANICAL GARDENS

kkk Visit if possible

 

This garden is only 5 acres or so and surrounded by streets and houses, and yet it is an outstanding garden. It is overlooked in most of the guidebooks that I have seen. The Spanish-style house was that of a landscape designer, and some other land was added. In addition to lush plants under the trees, there are little sections showing desert plants, including useful plants for local home landscaping.

 

The Hispanic culture has had a great influence on the Southwest U.S., and it is having an influence again these days. One display I have not seen elsewhere is a typical Hispanic back garden shrine-garden. The little shrine, garish with brilliant ceramics and surrounded by flowers, was very appealing.

 

The garden runs a full schedule of school tours. It is always interesting to me to see young people being introduced to plants in these tours, although I try to be in another section when they are around for some reason.

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