Peace and Love and Living Life: butterflies DBG 2012

Each year,

for the past few years,

I join the

Desert Botanical Garden.
(even though I know i will be traveling for work for several months)

because it demonstrates

the flora and fauna of

Arizona.

It is a lovely area

tucked away in the Papago mountains

near the Zoo on Galvin Parkway.

is a great reflection of the wide open spaces of

Arizona and just a delightful place

to spend an hour or a half a day -

roaming around Chi-Luly art

and the collection of all types of cactus.

It is the place that tourists always check out,

and,

I take my visitors

because

it IS

Arizona

Here is the scoop:

Our History

Planting The Seeds For A Botanical Garden

Back in the 1930s, a small group of passionate local citizens saw the need to conserve our beautiful desert environment. One was Swedish botanist Gustaf Starck, who found like-minded residents by posting a sign, “Save the desert,” with an arrow pointing to his home. In 1936, they formed the Arizona Cactus and Native Flora Society (ACNFS) to sponsor a botanical garden to encourage an understanding, appreciation and promotion of the uniqueness of the world’s deserts, particularly our Sonoran Desert.

It contains the following:

For more than 70 years, the Desert Botanical Garden has been teaching and inspiring visitors from the local community and around the world, providing research, exhibits and more designed to help us understand, protect and preserve the desert’s natural beauty. Today, the Garden features:

145 acres
65 acres under cultivation
50,000+ plant displays showcased in beautiful outdoor exhibits
1 of only 44 botanical gardens accredited by the American Association of Museums
1,140 volunteers
82,740 volunteer hours
104 staff members
640,529 attendees each year
26,065 member households