May 2025 Arts + Culture Spotlight: Tucson Botanical Gardens
May 2025 Arts + Culture Spotlight:
Tucson Botanical Gardens
Tucson Botanical Gardens is a refreshing oasis-like escape located in the heart of the city. I visited the Gardens on an unseasonably warm afternoon in April. Having forgotten to bring a hat, I was concerned I would be in the sun for the duration of my visit but I was happy to discover the Gardens’s lush landscape design has created a shaded paradise throughout most of the property, allowing guests such as myself to escape the often oppressive desert sun.
Founded in 1964, the garden was originally located at the home of local horticulturist Harrison G. Yocum and was open to the public for free until 1969 when it became an official nonprofit organization. Over the next decade, the garden membership grew and by 1974, the Gardens had moved to its permanent and current home of the historic Porter Family property and business, the Desert Gardens Nursery. Last year was the Gardens’s 40th anniversary.
During the cooler months, October through May specifically, the Gardens are home to Butterfly Magic, located in the Cox Butterfly and Orchid Pavillion. Guests who enter the Pavillion are surrounded by hundreds of butterflies, 30-50 species, and a number of orchid specimens from all over the world. This exhibit closes May 31st for the summer.
As a birding enthusiast, I was happy to discover that when the City of Tucson designated the property as a botanical garden in 1974, it also was designated as a sanctuary for wild birds. I was delighted to see several native bird species, such as the Greater Roadrunner.
“The Tucson Botanical Gardens connects people with plants and nature through art, science, history, and culture.” In addition to the native plant collections, the Gardens also have a number of sculptural art pieces located throughout, some of which are only there as temporary exhibits, as well as educational signage for a number of the more notable plants in the collection.
As an arts and cultural partner of the Act One Culture Pass program, public and academic library card holders for program member libraries in Southern Arizona may check out a pass for the Tucson Botanical Gardens good for admission for two and valid for one week upon checkout. For more information about the Gardens, please visit their website at https://tucsonbotanical.org. For more information about Culture Pass, such as which locations are available at your local library for checkout, visit https://act1az.org/culturepass.
https://tucsonbotanical.org
2150 North Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712 | 520.326.9686
