Consider Visiting A Botanical Garden
Living in the in the Desert Southwest provides several months of comfortable travel when the rest of the country is too cold and wet to enjoy being outside. One delightful way to enjoy this time of year is to visit botanical gardens.
Most of us know that “Botanical” designates plants that are developed by man, rather than native plants. The majority of Botanical Gardens on this list include a native plant section to get a close-up view of recommendations to add to your garden. Many gardens include pollinator sections with easy ideas to incorporate at home.
It might be challenging to interest your non-gardening family and friends to join you to “walk around looking at plants”
Yet Botanical Gardens have turned many a non-gardener into an avid gardener once they saw what is possible to create. Most provide trails for all levels of mobility. The gardens are centers for education with public lectures and classes. Many Botanical Gardens include historical collections and themed gardens. The best reason to visit botanical gardens is to see, in person, plant specimens and to learn how to recreate ecosystems that will support them. Botanical gardens also serve to preserve endangered species. 20% of all plant species are currently endangered.
Where can you find a Botanical Garden? Let’s start with the closest gardens then move further to other Southwest Botanical Gardens. This is not an exhaustive list – enough to get you started…
New Mexico
Colorado
- Durango Botanical Gardens (on my list to visit simply to see their literary garden)
- Denver Botanical Gardens
- Shambhala Botanical Gardens
Arizona
California
- San Diego Wildlife Safari Park (their plant collection is even more valuable than its animal collection if that’s a combination you might enjoy visiting)