The Sonoran Quarterly, December 2015, Volume 69, No.4

FOR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN

PHOENIX ARIZONA DECEMBER 2015 VOLUME 69 NO. 4

Desert Journal

Year-end Giving

The Garden is a healthy and vibrant cultural institution Education, research, conservation, and exhibition of desert plants comprise the core mission areas.

The Garden is a private, not-for-profit organization

The Garden depends on you

The Garden is mission-driven

Board of Trustees

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Contents Articles 4 6 8 10

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Features 2

Garden News 17

In Appreciation 18 On the Cover

Back Cover

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Taking action for

Starting Small, Growing Big

Help Rebuild Monarch Populations

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Delighted by

PLANT DONATIONS Being the assistant director of horticulture at the Desert Botanical Garden often requires me to take on a number of unique and unusual roles. One of those roles is that of handling donations of small, large, and ridiculously large plants for the Garden’s collection.

How do We Decide What to Accept?

Placing Donated Specimen Plants to the Best Effect

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Meet These

VOLUNTEERS

Research Volunteers Church and Dehn

Freelance Volunteer Trelease

Special Projects Volunteer Earle

Listen and Organize Volunteer Fisher

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Gifts confirmed as of October 1, 2015

The Saguaro Initiative

Celebrate the Past. Shape the Future.

Why The Happy Dance?

Ardie and Steve Evans, Chairs of the TSI Cabinet, are very good with numbers–and the numbers are good.

A LIFETIME of STRONG FAMILY VALUES and

GENEROSITY

Betty and Sam Kitchell arrived in Phoenix in 1948 with three children under the age of three, their abundant curiosity, adventurous spirits, and, in Betty’s words, “no money and no jobs.”

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When family members gathered at Betty’s home for a portrait this past August, they talked about how the Garden has become a vibrant community gathering place that is– happily–no longer “the best kept secret in town.” Betty expressed the Kitchell family’s joy in being able to support the Garden’s vision and Ann noted that they look forward to even greater and more memorable experiences for visitors in the years ahead.

The Sam and Betty Kitchell Family Heritage Garden is now open to visitors. Guests at this season’s Las Noches de las Luminarias will get their first views of the renovated historic space at night. To fully appreciate the experience, we invite you to plan a leisurely visit during the daytime.

The Saguaro Initiative at a Glance

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Desert Botanical Garden’s Herbarium Collections are Critical to Biodiversity Study

Pressed and dried between two pieces of paper and then mounted with a gummy adhesive to a piece of cardboard, these plant specimens represented a revolution. Ghini pioneered this simple method of preserving plants for study, which has not been surpassed in more than 450 years. He then gathered his plant specimens and created the world’s first herbarium. It, like all the herbaria to follow, was a collection of preserved plants as rich in information and priceless in value as any library.

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What’s the Connection between Biodiversity and Dried Plants?

Tracking Change Across the Landscape and Across Time

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Going Digital on SEINet—a Powerful Tool

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Contributing to Genetic Research, Too

Plant Knowledge: Important Then, Important Now

Name of plant Locality of plant Ecological data

Plant characteristics

Collector and collection number Date of collection

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Did you know?

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Dinner on the Desert 2016

Plans for Dinner on the Desert 2016, the Garden’s largest single-night fundraiser, are well underway by this year’s co-chairs Mary Heiss and Harold Dorenbecher, who is also a Garden trustee. It will be held on April 30, 2016, celebrating the 30th season of Dinner on the Desert.

Award of Merit Received for Outstanding Environmental Achievement

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THE SAGUARO INITIATIVE Honor Roll of Supporters

Supporting Partner

$1,000,000-$1,999,999

$25,000-$49,999

$1,000-$4,999

$500,000-$749-999

$5,000 - $9,999

$250,000-$499,999

$5,000-$9,999

DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN MEMBER SUPPORT

$100-000-$249,999 $10,000-$24,999

$25,000 +

SONORAN CIRCLE $2,500 - $4,999

$75,000-$99,999

$50,000-$74,999

$10,000 - $24,999

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DESERT COUNCIL

Memorial Gifts:

Ironwood ($2,500+) Palo Brea ($20,000+)

Annual Appeal & Donation Gifts

FOUNDATION, GOVERNMENT, & SOCIETY GIFTS Palo Verde ($10,000+)

HONOR & MEMORIAL GIFTS IN-KIND GIFTS

Mesquite ($5,000+)

Honor Gifts:

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SONORAN QUARTERLY | This magazine is available online at dbg.org/sqonline

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