Gay and Joe (good-times-rollin.blogspot.com) are a few sites down from us and we've been wanting to get together with them. Gay suggested an afternoon at the Botanical Gardens and lunch so we picked them up yesterday and headed off.
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| Origami flowers flutter in the breeze at the entrance |
Friday was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, and we soon got rid of our jackets and vests.
The gardens were lovely and the docents very available and informative but two areas really blew me away.
One was the Butterfly and Orchid Pavilion and the other was the Cactus area.
It seems I only took out my camera in these areas! The butterflies are all non-native and to enter the Pavilion one must pass through an intermediary zone and receive a "talk" by a docent so as to be sure not to allow any of these beauties to escape into the desert.
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| Dave and Joe discuss the instructions before entering the Butterfly Pavilion |
The heat and humidity hit us first, then the riot of color. Orchids everywhere and floating bits of color swirling through the air. Remember to watch your feet, they land on the ground in front of you also!
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| the little beauties land where they please, even on Joe's shirt! |
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| Gay enjoys the table top cactus gardens |
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| the Baseball Plant was smooth and thornless. it looked like it was made out of fabric |
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| which are rock, which are cacti? |
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| the gardens were punctuated by beautiful rocks |
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Although the parking lot was full when we arrived, we saw very few people. We were followed. however, as we moved through the gardens. Various sparrows, Thrashers, Cardinal's and the little jewels that are Broad Billed Hummingbirds flew along with us, giving us their own special tour.
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| bad picture of a beautiful broad billed hummingbird |
We checked out the menu at the Garden's little cafe and, while the atmosphere was charming, the menu didn't capture either Gay or I so we finished our exploration of the Botanic Gardens and headed off to Mi Nidito Mexican Restaurant for a late lunch.
When we arrived, there was an hour's wait to get in. We were all hungry so we walked across the street and enjoyed a very delicious lunch at their competitor, Guillermo's.
We always schedule a free day when going out to Spring Training and used one of those days to see the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. Lame compared to your Tucson gardens! Looks like they ROCK! I wand to grow a 'Baseball Plant'!
ReplyDeleteI have never visited that particular botanical garden, looks like a beauty!
ReplyDeleteAlmost every time we drive by MiNidito it's packed, with lines outside. Maybe someday we'll get in. We're going to have to see the cactus and the butterflies.
ReplyDeleteThese gardens weren't even on my radar until I saw yours and Gay's photos on Facebook. I've added it to my (endless) Tucson to-do list for a return trip. Some of those cacti are just incredible. Who knew there were so many different types? And the butterflies are beautiful! By the way, I LOL'd at the "washing and mowing a poodle" comment. Too funny.
ReplyDeleteThose orchids and butterflies really compete for most-beautiful!! The colors are incredible. I really must visit this garden with all its unique cactus. I can't imagine there was even more to see!! Always nice to have an alternative to a long wait :-) Glad you've had time to the mow the dog :-))))))
ReplyDeleteThe cacti variety is so cool. I need to check these out next year. I love orchids so see a lot them together will be great fun. The butterflies are absolutely beautiful! Awesome photos!
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed my time at the botanical garden. It seems they have new features replacing Frida Kahlo. Those butterflies are colorful !
ReplyDeleteHope you have time to see the Mirror Lab :)