Gardens Within Gardens

We had come to the Tucson Botanical Gardens to see the butterflies (see yesterday's entry), but there was much more to see.

The 5-1/2 acre Gardens has been voted "America's Best Secret Garden" by Reader's Digest. It is a park that is peaceful and very "stroll-able."

The Gardens consists of 17 speciality gardens from a Cactus and Succulent Garden to a Native American Crops Garden to a Moonlight Garden. The Children's Discovery Garden (above) tells a story about a plant's life cycle with the help of two important pollinators: the bee and the butterfly.

The Sensory Patios create spaces, such as, the Kitchen Patio (left), featuring plants that would appear in that setting.

As we walked among the Gardens, we could hear the laughter of a class of young students and the questions they posed to their teacher.

Tucked into small areas in a few of the gardens were some flowers. The ones we photographed are shown here.







As we passed the Herb Garden, I thought about the routine I would be going through about this time of year back in Pennsylvania. The seed catalogs would be arriving, and I would be planning the vegetable and herb garden. I do miss that.

We thought this saying captured the value of gardening: "How could such sweet and wholesome hours be reckoned but with herbs and flowers"--Andrew Marvell.

This wall near the exit presented a colorful farewell message to visitors. Many of the pieces contained names, but it was not clear what their association was to the artwork.