22 Mar, 2018;
Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix AZ
If you hate pictures, click away now!
The botanical gardens are immense and hit all my buttons! Beautiful plants, art work, and (surprise!) a butterfly enclosure.
As you approach the Garden, there are 3 huge Chihuly glass sculptures. They catch the sun and glitter.
The art continues throughout the gardens with a number of pieces by Jun Kaneko. These are fired ceramic (and also huge!)
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| 'Velocity' just inside the entrance |
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| Along the wildflower loop |
And many, many more!
A circle of these fanciful guys - a sign cautions visitors not to climb on them - but hugs are welcome.
Then, on to the butterflies!
These are only a few of the over 15,000 butterflies in the enclosure - many different species.
And the cacti - Oh my!!
All the common cacti - but in so many varieties! And then the uncommon ones, and the downright wierd ones! The gardens are very well laid out - the cacti and trees form a landscape of amazing texture and depth.
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| Never found a name for this one - reminds me of SideShow Bob, on the Simpsons. |
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| Lots of varieties of these low-growing mounded cacti |
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| These are flowering - remind me a bit of meercats |
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| Old Man Cactus |
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| Not a cactus |
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| Great example of crested saguaro |
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| Love the variegated color! |
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| The contrast of dark green and snowflake white of the spines really caught my attention |
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| One of the weird ones - except for the flower on the top, you'd think it was a rock! |
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| Toothpick cacti - they look like snakes to me! |
And, of course, the big guys!!
The Heritage Garden features the original plantings - some over 100 years old.
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| What beautiful shapes! |
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