ESCAPE TO THE DESERT

Although I am grateful for the current rain this week I would like to escape back to the wonderful sunny, dry desert. I shall just have to enjoy the  photographs and memories from our recent 10 days visit. Or should I say 6 days because it took 2 days to drive the 1000 miles to Ahwatukee, where our son and family live, with an overnight stop in El Paso. We spent Sunday with the family and on Monday morning we headed to the Desert Botanical Garden. I had called ahead to reserve an early morning spot courtesy of our reciprocal membership program with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 

If you haven't seen the Palo Verde trees in bloom then I must tell you they are a sight to behold. 

All along the roadsides from Tucson to Phoenix just a mass of yellow blooms. 

 And I thought my retama trees were a show-stopper. (Recently removed since they died in the severe freeze). The bark of the Palo verde is green and is used by the tree to photosynthesize. This way the leaves can remain small, meaning they will transpire less in the heat and dry desert atmosphere. 

 We have been to this garden many times and although we see some changes from year to year much of the structure and plant content has not changed much from our last visit. Nevertheless I always say when we walk in "This is the best garden I know"! I will admit those palo verdes had me won over on this occasion. That and some of the cactus in flower.

 Should I complain about the fact that my prickly pear blooms are always yellow.

Many cactus and succulents do well with filtered shade, especially in the summer desert heat, and the mature feathery trees provide just the right amount of protection. Birds sit in the trees and drop their seeds and they begin to grow in this favorable environment. Even early in the morning we enjoyed walking under their protection. 

 Or even sitting there and drinking in the cooler morning desert air. Yes. Everyone was wearing masks.

 Out on the trails there were a few saguaros including this crested beauty.

 And this rather unusual one made from axe heads.

As with many public gardens there are often temporary art displays. This one titled, The Earth Has Been Good To Us, by the artist Mashford Kanyemba, carved from Shona Opal Stone.

 and Lonely Flight, by Lawrence Mukomberanwa, also carved from Shona Opal Stone.

I could have snap, snap snapped a hundred photographs with my phone but for once I decided to enjoy the garden as most visitors do and walk around and drink in its beauty. You can read about my previous visits to the garden Desert Botanical Garden Visits Looking back I think I need to get my camera out again!

Stay tuned for posts about visit to the Lost Dutchman State Park, the Saguaro National Park and Tucson Botanical Gardens.

DESERT BOTANICAL GARDENS

In all the times we have visited the Desert Botanical Gardens I don't think I have ever seen the cactus looking more stunning. Maybe fall rains have refreshed the plants. Maybe the cool cloudy day just brought out their best. It was perfect for a little iPhone photography.

 You can call me a frustrated cactomaniac. Frustrated because of where I live; the limited number of cactus I can grow and most of those in pots. That is doubly true this year as my garden plants were recentlysubjected to night-time temperatures in the teens for several nights.

There was a sign in the garden suggesting the the Agave Victoria-Reginae is endangered by collection for the ornamental trade. They have an amazing number here and rather like the one I have these look like the type that produce offsets. Maybe it is the tightly furled ones that are endangered although I don't think they make a distinction in the name. You can see the pups around the base of the one in the bottom right hand corner.

Even cactus need shade at the hottest time of the year. Here provided by this permanent shade structure in cactus and succulent galleries. In other parts of the garden trees such as the Chilean mesquite and members of the legume family provide a source of nitrogen as well as shade.

This South African tree aloe, Aloe Hercules takes pride of place under the arching shade structure.

We noticed that there is new signage throughout the park in both English and Spanish.

Looking at the tuna on this cholla I can imagine the spectacular flowering earlier in the year.

It is a little too early for many blooms but a sprinkling of aloes were in bloom though out the gardens.

I am always left drooling over these golden barrel cactus.

I remember visiting shortly after the terraces were built. Low level raised beds edged in cut stone    bring more formal structure to this part of the garden.

Touches of color here and there. I wonder if they chose these colors because they are the colors of flowering cactus and aloes.

When we visited last December the colored glass had not been added to the Founders Wall in the Sam and Betty Kitchell Family Heritage Garden. The wall pays tribute to the people and plants who have helped shape the gardens including people and plants.

And even though the cactus add structure to the garden there is always room for sone hardscape. The garden provides many places to sit and contemplate the beauty. There are also some beautiful water features.

A collection of watering cans among the pots dress up this ledge.

You might easily miss this tucked in behind a wall.

A memory wall.

I left even more of a cactomaniac.

CHRISTMAS EVE AT THE DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN

This year we spent Christmas in Phoenix with family. There was lots to do in preparation for Christmas Eve and Christmas day but David and I managed to sneak out for a few hours Christmas Eve morning to visit the Desert Botanical Garden. It was just over a year since we were last there and as expected there were quite a few new features. If you think a garden with such magnificent structural plants doesn't need other kinds of structure, think again. Over the last 10 years we have watched as they added more and more hardscape to the garden.
Things haven't changed much at the entrance. The Chihuly sculptures still greet the visitor.

And there is a vertical wall of succulents.

Opuntia, Santa Rita welcomes us wearing its winter coat.

And you can't miss the newest member to the garden, The Boojum tree, Fouqueria columnaris, at 37' towering above all the other plants in the garden collection. The tree was donated by a homeowner in whose front garden it was growing. It will need support for a while until its roots grow big enough to support its height.

From Thanksgiving until Christmas Las Noches de las Luminarias welcomes visitors into the evening garden. As part of this event Bruce Munro showcases eight large scale light based installations using fibre optic lighting. It must be quite a spectacle. We saw several of these dotted among the cactus and large areas of lights on the hillsides.

We have long admired the raised beds using stacked stone but the new Jan and Tom Lewis Desert Portal enhances this similar style of wall with colored glass.

This has always been one of my favorite water features and I am sure in the early mornings and evenings birds and other wild life gather around here. I think may have painted the yellow wall since I was last there or was it just the wetness enhancing the color?

How beautifully this second water feature blends in with the native granite rocks and plants.

The third fountain is at the entrance to the Fine Family Contemplation Garden and features a zero edge wall.

A work in progress. Soon to be the Founder's Wall with circles of colored glass fitted into each of the metal circles. It won't be completed until January 2016, so next time!

Over the years color has been added to the garden in the way of structure. I'm pretty sure that when they were deciding on the color for the cactus an succulent galleries they took their cue from the flowering aloes.

Cactus and agaves themselves grow larger with each visit. Some of them grow old and not so pretty.

It's always comforting to know that when a plant fails it may not always be your fault.

It has the look of a very ancient font and maybe that's what it once was or was it possibly a repurposed, cantera stone column. Either way it makes for a very nice feature in this small courtyard area.

 I'm hoping that one day my Agave desmettiana Joe Hoak plants will share a spot with Agave desmettiana variegata but as neither are truly hardy here it will likely only ever be in pots.

And talking about hardiness Arizona is preparing for a few cold nights and they were out covering a number of plants with fleece.

And what was of favorite plant in the garden that day? Without a doubt this display of Agave victoriae-reginae.

It was yet another memorable visit to the garden.