Carol is taking us on the road today to warm, dry, Arizona.
I thought I’d join in and share some photos I took while on the road recently. I traveled from Philadelphia to Phoenix and had the opportunity to visit the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix as well as the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior. I’m afraid I won’t be much help with plant IDs since Southwestern plants are not my area of expertise, but I thought your readers my be inspired by the images.
The Desert Botanical Garden was featuring an exhibit by Dale Chihuly that was quite magical in the evening when I visited. The Boyce Thompson Arboretum was amazing too—very naturalistic and expansive.
The iconic saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea, Zones 9–11) is one of the largest cactus species, reaching over 40 feet tall, and it lives longer than 150 years. These are at the Desert Botanical Garden.
Desert gardens don’t have to be austere. With the right plant choices even a very dry garden can be lush and green looking.
A stunning Dale Chihuly glass sculpture in the Desert Botanical Garden
A crazy-looking plant in the garden—any desert garden experts know what this might be?
This saguaro cactus has a monstrose growth, which is a chance mutation that changes the growth of the cactus and produces this unusual crested form on the top.
A Chihuly glass sculpture lit up at night creates a dramatic display.
The rest of the photos are from the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, including this beautiful succulent display.
The arboretum includes views of beautiful natural features and some of the iconic rock formations of the area.
I think this is Aloe ferox (Zones 9–11) or a related species or hybrid.
Stunning rock formations
Water makes a ribbon of green through the desert and carves fantastic forms out of the rocks.
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