Part 7: Tucson Botanical Gardens

20131204

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The Trip

We had a down day and Kathleen decided that she wanted to visit the Tucson Botanical Gardens.  So, we locked and loaded and headed out.

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

Tucson was in the path of a major winter storm.  The leading edge of the storm coated the Catalina Mountains with heavy clouds.

The entrance to the Botanical Gardens had this nice piece of art.

One of the interesting aspects of the Gardens is that they have a dedicated butterfly exhibit.  There is a heated green house that has a humidifier that maintains a tropical climate.  The butterflies only live a few weeks and they have to be restocked from suppliers around the world on a weekly basis.

There were feeders throughout the greenhose to attract the butterflies.

Note the curved proboscis on this fellow.

These butterflies were very fast and you had to be prepared for the photo if they landed nearby.

This fellow was huge; perhaps 5" across.

In addition to the multitude of butterflies, there were many interesting flowers in bloom.

This fellow's wings are showing some wear and tear.

The greenhouse had plenty of tasty orchids.

Some of the orchids had interesting patterns.

Some of the orchids came in clusters.

These orchids had some of the most intricate patterns.

This specimen also had a coiled proboscis.

The Botanical Gardens had a small "zen garden" that was nicely done, but with native species.

The fountain had metal cactus sculptures.

Note the red thorns on these cactus.

This cactus had huge thorns but narrow stems.

This is a crested cholla AKA "monstrosus;" a new species for us.

This species had the longest thorns of the group.

These would look good in my front yard.

This species had multiple length thorns.

There were a number of nice specimens of the "Old Father" cactus.

The Gardens had some rare varieties of cactus.

Not all the species of cactus were from North America; some were from South America and some from Africa.

These are Euphorbia, not cactus.

Another kind of Euphorbia.

This species has ribbon needles.

This barrel cactus had helical twists as "factory equipment".



We were waiting for this fellow to attack us; it was a life-like statue.

The Tucson Botanical Gardens are worth a visit if you are in the area.


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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2013, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.