by While I was in Phoenix I made a quick visit to the Garden to see what was new. The entrance and the area right behind it has much more concrete and more formal displays of cactus than it did years ago.
A wall of succulents! What a fun way to embellish signage at the entry.
A group of Barrel Cactus carefully mounted in a display. A sign declares that they are an endangered species.
After a quick walk-through of the butterfly house–a once-in-a-lifetime experience–I headed back to the Ethnobotany section of the garden and was pleased to see additions to examples of Native Americans use of plants of the Sonora desert.
The winter rains apparently were a threat to this Western Apache home so it was covered up to protect it.
Another example of a native American house using materials of the desert.
Local materials were used to build a wind shield around the cooking space.
A corral made of natural local materials used by both Native Americans and Spanish immigrants.
A ramada used by Native Americans, historically, is identical to the ones I saw currently being used by frybread vendors outside of St. Xavier’s Mission south of Tucson. More about St. Xavier’s Mission in a few days.
A small area of the Desert Botanical Garden is given over to an example of the Sonora grasslands. Most of the desert around Phoenix and Tucson has no grasslands, but when I drove to Tombstone, I saw grasslands very similar to these. More about Tombstone soon.
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