Botanical garden a perfect weekend getaway

With our cool fall days beckoning us to explore the out-of-doors, you might want to travel the three hours to reach Phoenix and the Desert Botanical Garden.

This special garden was established in 1939 and has been one of the major attractions for visitors to the Phoenix area ever since. Over 300,000 people visit each year. Garden club members across the state try to make an annual pilgrimage to enjoy its extensive collection of native wildlife, plants and historical information concerning ancient desert people and their use of native vegetation.

The Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, is at the southeast corner of 64th Street and McDowell. It is part of the Papago Park complex and includes 50 acres of desert plant specimens from all over the world, six hiking trails, a museum, a café and a butterfly pavilion. Electric scooters and wheelchairs can be reserved, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Vivian Sartori, employee at the Desert Botanical Garden, stated, "Our most popular hiking trails are the Desert View, the Victoria Mine and the Bull Pasture/Estes Canyon trails. If we receive good rainfall, there will be a nice display of wildflowers this spring along the trails.”

The Desert Botanical Garden is famous for sponsoring horticultural research, educational programs for the general public and maintenance of a world-famous collection of desert plants and animals. For artists, botanical art workshops are held throughout the year, and adults’ and children’s educational programs give the public information concerning a myriad of subjects, from desert plant adaptations to use of native plants for medicinal purposes.

Garden tours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily from Oct. 1 until May 9. Hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. from June to September. You can pay to have a guided tour or rent headphones to hear an audio guided tour.

On Saturdays and Sundays in October and November, there will be an "Ask a Gardener” station where volunteer gardeners will answer your gardening questions. December will have the Las Noches de las Luminarias from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., which is a magnificent display of lights and luminaries along the garden pathways - a must-see to put you in the Christmas spirit here in the desert.

If you want to know what our state bird, the cactus wren, looks like, or the Gila woodpecker, check out the "Birds in the Garden” tours. These are held on Mondays, September through November. September tours begin at 7 a.m. and October and November tours begin at 8 a.m. Tours are also held the second Saturday of each month, starting at 8 a.m. What a great opportunity to learn more about our desert birds.

A fascinating fall exhibit is the Butterfly Pavilion. In a 36x80 pavilion, hundreds of monarch butterflies can be observed and photographed up-close and personal during the Mariposa Monarca exhibit. They create a breathtaking display enjoyed by young and old alike. The monarch exhibit continues until Nov. 15.

In the spring, the pavilion houses a myriad of different butterfly species, such as swallowtail and sulphur butterflies. If you’re lucky, you will be in the pavilion at the right time to help release some of the newly purchased butterflies.

For kids interested in learning about desert habitat, the garden offers a kids corner from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 4 through Nov. 22, Saturdays and Sundays. There are many hands-on activities to help children better understand and appreciate our desert environment. There are also classes for Girl Scouts wishing to earn a special desert discovery patch. The classes will be offered in October, November, and December. Call 480-481-8146.

There’s even a desert landscaper school, which runs for nine months and allows gardeners a special opportunity to learn more about our desert habitat and to earn a certificate in desert landscaping.

If you enjoy abstract sculptures, you’re in luck. From Nov. 21 to May 30, native American artist Allan Houser will be exhibiting 18 bronze sculptures throughout the agave collection area. The agave collection is a newly constructed garden containing over 1,000 agave plants. The grand opening will be held some time in November. For more information concerning garden exhibits and events, call 1-480-941-1225.

Once your hikes are finished and your tours are done, it’s time to rest and relax at the outdoor patio café. There are no picnic areas in the garden, but the café offers an ideal place to sit and discuss your day's explorations.

For the admission fee of $15 for adults, $7.50 for students with ID, $13.50 for seniors, and $5 for children over 3, your whole family can enjoy an entire day and evening getting to know more about Arizona's unique plants and animals. It’s a perfect weekend getaway.

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Karen Bowen is a member of Yuma Garden Club and can be reached by e-mail at bowenkaren@ymail.com.