Tucson Botanical Gardens -
Birds, Butterflies & Beautiful Blossoms

A stroll through the Tucson Botanical Gardens is a walk through beauty and tranquility. Whether or not you are a gardener, a child or an adult, this is a place to visit while in Tucson--and if you live in or near Tucson, I would make it a monthly habit.

Beginning as the family residence of Bernice and Rutger Porter, these award winning gardens have now increased to over 5 acres encompassing seventeen specialty gardens and providing the community with a center for horticulture and nature-based tours and youth programs. In addition, the gardens provide volunteer opportunities; Horticultural Therapy programs for the developmentally disabled and seniors; a place to hold community events; a Resource Center of practical gardening books; a collection of over 2000 volumes in the Edmund McGibbon Library; and a facility for weddings, memorials, corporate meetings and private parties.

In the 1930s, Rutger Porter was a landscaper and met his wife-to-be while landscaping the home of her family. Once married, they moved into a small adobe house on 2 1/2 acres--the beginnings of the gardens and their family. Bernice was an avid gardener and loved nature, and soon their home grew in size and a retail nursery was added. Rutger died in 1964, and in 1983 Bernice donated the gardens to the City of Tucson with the stipulations that it become a botanical garden and that she be allowed to live on the property until her death.

The Tucson Botanical Gardens has five plant collections - a Cactus Collection; a Tree Collection; a Tucson Basin Natives Collection; Low water-use Ornamentals Collection; and the Historical Gardens Collection. As you wander through the gardens, you will see plants from these core collections represented in the specialty gardens.

The specialty gardens include the Cactus and Succulent Garden; The Historical Garden;  The Xeriscape Demonstration Garden; the Native American Crops Garden; The Wildflower Garden, The Children's Discovery Garden; the Backyard Bird Garden; the Nuestro Jardín (Mexican-American Garden); the Iris Garden; the Shade Garden; the Butterfly Garden; the Herb Garden; the Porter Patio Garden; the Patio Scapes; the Exhibit Greenhouse; the Plants of the Tohono O'odham Path; and the Zen Garden.

As you wander about the gardens, you can't help but learn something new from each of the specialty gardens. It is a mecca of gardening and patio ideas. It is amazing how many plants will grow in a desert climate with the proper care and attention. Around each bend is another delight, a beautiful blossom or an intriguing plant that both children and adults will love.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Laney, the Executive Director of the gardens on our online radio show Champagne Sundays.

To listen to that interview (an excerpt of the show), please double click on the Play Button below.

 

 

The Tucson Botanical Gardens also has the Gardens Cafe 54, a cafe with tasty treats and delicious sandwiches, all presented on serving materials made of corn (biodegradable and biocompostable products)--from the flatware to the salad bowls to the coffee cups and lids. The Gift Shop is a haven that will tempt any gardener or flower lover.

Throughout the year the Tucson Botanical Gardens hosts events and exhibitions - to find out what they are and for more information, please visit www.Tucsonbotaical.org. The gardens are located at 2150 N. Alvernon Way. Tucson, AZ 85712. They are open daily from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve & Day, New Year's Day and Independence Day). Tel: 800-326-8939.