The Tucson Botanical Gardens is a 5.5 acre (2.2 ha) collection of sixteen residentially scaled urban gardens in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Paths connect these gardens, which include a

Zen Garden The or Japanese rock garden, often called a zen garden, is a distinctive style of Japanese garden. It creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and u ...

, a Prehistoric Garden, a Barrio Garden, a Butterfly Garden, a

Xeriscape Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acceptance in other ...

Garden, and a Children’s Garden. The Cox Butterfly & Orchid Pavilion is home to

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

bromeliads The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

, and jungle vegetation, along with a display of live tropical butterflies from five continents from October to April. The

Cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

and Succulent Garden contains hundreds of cacti and arid plants arranged to imitate the arid

Sonoran desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

, and is embellished with exotic stones and minerals collected by the Gardens’ founder, Harrison Yocum. The Native Crops Garden illustrates the prehistoric agricultural practices in Central and Southern Arizona. The Tohono O’odham Path winds among edible and utilitarian plants of the Sonoran Desert.

History

The Tucson Botanical Gardens were founded in 1964, by

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and collector Harrison G. Yocum. The gardens were originally located at his home on North Jefferson Street, and contained an extensive collection of cacti and palms open to the public. Memberships became available in 1968, and the group became chartered as a non-profit corporation the next year. After the organization grew to over 100 charter members, it moved to the Randolph Park, where it used available greenhouse display space. After growing further, the group was looking for a larger location to move the gardens to. Mrs. Bernice Porter, the owner of the grounds of the former Desert Gardens Nursery garden, was looking for a way to preserve her house and gardens from demolition. In 1974, the grounds became the new headquarters of the Tucson Botanical Gardens after the Tucson City Council passed Resolution 9384, which stated that the property could be used for the development of a botanical garden. The house has undergone extensive remodeling to allow it to be more suitable for the library and the administrative offices of the Tucson Botanical Gardens. Many rooms, however, including the Porter Hall, retain the original look of the Porter family house.

History

See also