mistressofmuses (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mistressofmuses) wrote2025-02-26 08:37 pm
mistressofmuses) wrote2025-02-26 08:37 pm
Sunday, Feb 16: Arizona Trip Part 6, Desert Botanical Garden
Sunday was our last full day in Arizona. It was a "do what you want" day. Someone's brother-in-law owns a brewery that a handful of people were going to go visit, and a bunch of people planned to either lounge by the pool or go play in the casino, but none of the above sounded great to us.
So we went to the Desert Botanical Garden.
It was a perfect day for it - low 70s, which felt pretty heavenly on comparison to the weather in Colorado! The gardens were a little on the crowded side, I'm sure because of the beautiful weather, but it was still a very nice time.
I really do find the desert beautiful. I spent a lot of time in New Mexico as a kid and as a teen, mixed between desert and mountain areas. I love it.
This is the post with the most pictures, though only narrowly, haha.
I was so excited to see saguaros! (We saw plenty ever since we arrived in AZ, of course, but these were the better pictures.)
A particularly dramatic saguaro! With an interesting growth pattern at the top.
A bee on a fairy duster. :)
Saguaros up the mountain, a quail on the stairs, and a roadrunner in the plaza! (I love roadrunners.)
The Denver Botanic Gardens has a piece by Dave Chihuly, and did an exhibition of some of his other sculptures years ago. So sort of fun to see another piece at the entrance to these gardens as well.
Why yes, I can see why this is called an "octopus cholla."
A bee! :D
I like when the barrel cacti twist like this. :)
A curve-billed thrasher! (Not a bird I've seen in Colorado.)
Some SPINES on these prickly pears.
A hummingbird! They are long gone from Colorado (we only get a few species in the summer), so it was fun to see them at this time of year.
The cholla look so fuzzy! (Do not pet.)
I love the dramatic red spines.
Not a great picture, as I couldn't get very close, but an Anna's hummingbird! I don't think I've ever seen one before. (The female above might have also been an Anna's, but female hummingbirds are a little difficult to tell apart.)
A tiny butterfly on the rosemary.
So pink!
Nightshade. :)
Pipe organ cacti are really dramatic, too.
Also the pipe organ cactus. The new branches start off as such cute little things!
There was an art exhibit called "Light Bloom." The sculptures were lovely, and I'm sure they do look amazing when lit up at night! (Though we were only there for the afternoon.)
A prickly pear with many fruits!
A nice arrangement in the pot.
These were such an interesting shape!
Another of the art pieces.
A very cute little ground squirrel by where we stopped for lunch.
And one more of my roadrunner friend.
...Ahem. (Jokes crowdsourced from Taylor's post about this specimen: "What a prick." "The Cocktus." "Desert girls make do.")
So we went to the Desert Botanical Garden.
It was a perfect day for it - low 70s, which felt pretty heavenly on comparison to the weather in Colorado! The gardens were a little on the crowded side, I'm sure because of the beautiful weather, but it was still a very nice time.
I really do find the desert beautiful. I spent a lot of time in New Mexico as a kid and as a teen, mixed between desert and mountain areas. I love it.
This is the post with the most pictures, though only narrowly, haha.
I was so excited to see saguaros! (We saw plenty ever since we arrived in AZ, of course, but these were the better pictures.)
A particularly dramatic saguaro! With an interesting growth pattern at the top.
A bee on a fairy duster. :)
Saguaros up the mountain, a quail on the stairs, and a roadrunner in the plaza! (I love roadrunners.)
The Denver Botanic Gardens has a piece by Dave Chihuly, and did an exhibition of some of his other sculptures years ago. So sort of fun to see another piece at the entrance to these gardens as well.
Why yes, I can see why this is called an "octopus cholla."
A bee! :D
I like when the barrel cacti twist like this. :)
A curve-billed thrasher! (Not a bird I've seen in Colorado.)
Some SPINES on these prickly pears.
A hummingbird! They are long gone from Colorado (we only get a few species in the summer), so it was fun to see them at this time of year.
The cholla look so fuzzy! (Do not pet.)
I love the dramatic red spines.
Not a great picture, as I couldn't get very close, but an Anna's hummingbird! I don't think I've ever seen one before. (The female above might have also been an Anna's, but female hummingbirds are a little difficult to tell apart.)
A tiny butterfly on the rosemary.
So pink!
Nightshade. :)
Pipe organ cacti are really dramatic, too.
Also the pipe organ cactus. The new branches start off as such cute little things!
There was an art exhibit called "Light Bloom." The sculptures were lovely, and I'm sure they do look amazing when lit up at night! (Though we were only there for the afternoon.)
A prickly pear with many fruits!
A nice arrangement in the pot.
These were such an interesting shape!
Another of the art pieces.
A very cute little ground squirrel by where we stopped for lunch.
And one more of my roadrunner friend.
Bonus inappropriate cactus:
...Ahem. (Jokes crowdsourced from Taylor's post about this specimen: "What a prick." "The Cocktus." "Desert girls make do.")