7 minute read
Arboretum Offers New Summer Programs
by ROX Media
Outdoor Adventure FUN Arboretum Offers New Summer Programs
by Blake Herzog
Take a drive to Boyce Thompson Arboretum — about an hour away from Casa Grande in the far northeast corner of Pinal County — and you’ll still be in the middle of the desert. Or more precisely about 10 deserts represented in different sections of the 353-acre garden.
It’s also a hub for learning how to live in, grow and conserve the desert. It has nearly 5 miles of trails guiding visitors around more than 18,000 individual plants from almost 4,000 different plant species or families.
It’s an Audubon Society Important Bird Area for its nearly 300 different species observed. Bobcats, javelinas, rattlesnakes, coatimundi, Gila monsters, ground squirrels and butterflies are just a few examples of the non-avian wildlife sighted there, drawn by its greenery and unrivaled food supply.
In short, this is the place to be. DESERT PLANTS, WILDLIFE AND ECOSYSTEMS
Founded in 1921 by mining and Wall Street magnate Boyce Thompson, the arboretum has never strayed from its original mission of researching desert plants from around the world and reporting findings to the public. It was opened to the public eight years later and continues to expand that collection to the present day.
“We are actively focusing on growing the diversity of our collection by adding new species,” says Becky Stephenson, plant collections manager.
The nonprofit arboretum is so dedicated to this goal, some five years was spent planning for and transplanting 5,900 plants over 75 miles of desert from north Scottsdale, including more than 800 species new to it. The Wallace Desert Garden was planted on 13 acres of raw desert and opened to the public in March 2020.
It joined an immense collection drawing from deserts and arid lands around the globe, Becky Stephenson says. There’s a Mojave Desert section sporting about 40 Joshua trees of varying heights and in need of many more to be truly representative of that region.
“The Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit, on the other hand, features more shrubs and smaller cacti,” Stephenson says. “The South American Exhibit showcases trees and columnar cacti native to the drier regions of this continent. Others, like the Sonoran Desert Exhibit, showcase plant communities closer to home and are a great way to learn about our native species.”
She adds, “These eco-geographical gardens are immersive and capture the ‘feel’ of their natural namesakes.”
The trails offer a variety of experiences, too. The main path travels 1.5 miles through the heart of the gardens and is wheelchair-friendly, while the High Trail along the southern perimeter is more challenging and offers panoramic vistas.
At 2,400 feet elevation the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the surrounding country fall into the Arizona Upland biotic community within the Sonoran Desert, which translates into somewhat cooler temperatures. The average June high temperature in Superior is 96 degrees, versus 104 in Casa Grande.
TOUR, LEARN AND PLAY
Everyone is welcome to walk through the arboretum at their own pace, but “we also offer other specialty tours based on seasonality and/or highlighting unique gardens and trails, like wildflowers in the spring, edible medicinal plant walks on our Curandero Trail, or a Wallace Desert Garden tour,” education coordinator Abbie Smith says.
Photo by Renée Louzon-Benn
Popular “walks” dig into birds, lizards, dragonflies, scorpions, geology, history and other angles from which to view the park. Preregistration and fees are required for all guided tours other than the discovery tour.
Most classes and workshops have been moved online. New this summer is an “Authors (Virtually) @ the Arboretum” monthly series featuring best-selling authors of books considering different forms of being a good steward of the environment.
An in-person, ticketed “Arb After Hours” happy hour is also new this summer on the second Fridays of June, July and August. “Walk on the Wild Side” evening events for learners of all ages will be held on the final Saturdays of those same months.
All events and classes can be found at www. btarboretum.org/events with links to register for specific programs.
Photo Mayor Mila Besich At 2,400 feet elevation the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the surrounding country fall into the Arizona Upland biotic community within the Sonoran Desert
Blushing Cactus Photography
Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Where: 37615 E. Arboretum Way (on south side of U.S. 60, just west of Superior) When: Open daily, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. (May through September) or 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (October through April). Last admission is one hour before closing. Cost: $15 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-12, free for Boyce Thompson Arboretum members and front-line medical workers (see website for information).
Information: www.btarboretum.org or 520-689-2723
in the Pinal AMA. That’s an allinclusive exercise that’s going well, and we are multiple years into it. A final report could be completed in 2022.
And there are a lot of other water resource groups that have come together. For example, the Pinal Stakeholder Group that led to specific water legislation that occurred this year and was recently signed by Gov. Ducey. Jake Lenderking, is also a co-chair of that group. While that legislation will be helpful, it’s just one small step, and now the group is working on more things we can do short- to medium-term.
I give credit to some of the other private providers, and the county, municipalities, and organizations working on these issues — there’s more coordination, cohesion and people willing to work together now than ever.
GC LIVING: What would you like to end with?
Ron Fleming: I’ve built most of my professional career in Pinal
County. I have worked around the state, but Pinal County is where I got my foot in the door with Global Water. I just really enjoy working in Pinal because in some respects it’s similar to my company’s original strategy, which was, again, buy or build utilities in the path of growth. Pinal County is just that. It’s the area between
Phoenix and Tucson. It’s so ripe with opportunity, and it’s always enjoyable to pursue an opportunity with such good people.
Further on that point, the way everybody, in my opinion, continues to work together through groups like Maricopa Economic
Development Alliance in Maricopa specifically, in Pinal Partnership on a bigger scale, even the charitable organizations and other community organizations – I just think it’s unique what’s going on in
Pinal and along the Sun Corridor. Ron and his business partner and CFO Mike Liebman at NASDAQ to ring the opening bell (May 2016).
I’m happy that Global Water and me personally, have such a big interest in what is going on in Pinal, and we’re going to continue to do our part to help everybody succeed in bringing all those opportunities together. On this point, I have to highlight my team at Global Water, as they truly allow me to say that with confidence. We can and will do our part, because of them, their professionalism and passion.
GC LIVING: Crystal ball moment.
Where do you see us in 20 years? 50 years?
Ron Fleming: I think the next 20 to 50 years is going to be a tremendous amount of growth that is going to be all we can do as a stakeholder group to manage in the right way.
But on the water front, I do think we will have made significant progress in solving the challenges that exist today — not by one thing, but a hundred things broken down into smaller buckets. Everybody in the county will be doing all they can on the conservation front. Moving up from that, we’ve figured out how to get more out of our large, shared groundwater aquifer. Moving up from that, we’ve figured out how to bring more renewable water supplies into the county. And moving up from that, maybe by then we’ve embarked on our own large infrastructure projects where we kind of control our own destiny, because we will have the ability to bring in sufficient amount of water to allow the Sun Corridor between Phoenix and Tucson to really be limitless.
I do think all those things can happen on a horizon like that, and it will be a big success story.
Get ready for Dial-A-Story
Casa Grande Public Library
Help your child explore books and language in a new way through Dial-A-Story at the Casa Grande Public Library.
Listen to new children’s stories weekly from the comfort of your own home by dialing 520-5100990. Stories will be available in English and Spanish.
Give it a try today!
Be sure to visit us in person, as well, at the Casa Grande Public Library, 449 N. Drylake St., or Vista Grande Public Library, 1556 N. Arizola Road. Both are open and ready to help our community.
See you soon!
