Every year on Veterans Day and my birthday means a day at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, AZ. I love the mountainous area, the plants from deserts around the world, the little streams of water scattered around and the occasional small waterfall trickling. At the front of the Arboretum there are demonstration gardens that are always so lovely and welcoming. I enjoy the Arboretum for it’s roughness different from a botanical garden.
About the Arboretum: Colonel William Boyce Thompson found his greatest interest in a house he built in the Arizona hills, near Superior. This is where he built his Picket Post house. When a friend asked him how much land he owned around Picket Post House, he replied, “I own it all as far as the eye can see, because I love it.” Thompson is reported to have been happier in his Picket Post home than any other time before. He picked Franklin J. Crider, University of Arizona, to establish the Boyce Thompson Southwest Arboretum on a portion of the 400 acres he owned. The initial mission of the Arboretum was to study the plants of different desert countries and to make the results available to the public.
Garden for me is also a perfect cross section of science, feats of natures engineering and artistic expression. STEAM at it’s finest.
Fall Orange at the Arboretum
Waterfall at the Arboretum
birds nest in a tree
cactus garden
pomegranate tree
Lovely Orange Somethings
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Mountain view
Purple softies
little fire cracker of color
single pomegranate
Orange berry bush
warty tree
coral color berries
yellow aloe bloom
root wrap around
naked tree
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