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