Monday, December 29, 2014

Vacation! A trip back to the Desert Botanical Garden


I’ve decided to do something I’ve never done before: take a week off! Crazy right? I know. However I can’t accept complete radio silence here on the blog, so instead each day this week I’m going to tempt you to visit a past post, one from my garden travels over the years. Today we start with a 2011 visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ. I took so many photos it’s a two part post: Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here.

Visits to this garden rank very high on my magical moments lists, it's a very special place.

With lots of amazing plants, like this Agave x ‘Dianita’ - honestly I can't believe it's been 3 years since I've been there. I must return soon!

Oh and I'm not really away on vacation (although I was last week, more on that soon) so if you have any comments or questions please, as always, feel free to talk to me!

This post is part of a week long series looking back at earlier garden visits and my posts on them. All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

22 comments:

  1. That's a lot bigger than a dome. Look at all those opuntias! It looks like there's even one growing out of the saguaro!

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    1. Indeed there is! My fav crazy opuntia memory is seeing one growing out of the side of a palm tree in Tucson.

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  2. Funny enough I had a déjà vu moment when I saw your first pic but reading through I was soon enlightened. Enjoy your week off :)

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    1. Good memory! Sometimes I find myself doing the same thing on other blogs, often it's that they've posted about something (a garden, a nursery, a plant) that another blogger I follow has written about.

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  3. Wow! I'm tempted to book a flight just to see this place in person.

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    1. Oh rickii you really should plan a trip sometime, it's AMAZING!

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  4. I like this vacation mode, complete with sunny, spiky, images. Maybe I'll pull out a vacation to post, too. You might have started yet another garden bloggers meme!

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    1. Sunny and spiky, just exactly how I like my vacations.

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  5. Yea! A week off. Hope you enjoy it as much as I know we'll enjoy revisiting some gardens on your blog! Must see this garden in person some day. (Huntington first.)

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    1. You've got me mentally comparing the two (DBG and the Huntington). I saw the DBG years before I'd even ever heard of the Huntington, hard to pick a favorite and glad that I don't have to.

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  6. Your original posts in 2011 were run before I started following your blog so this was an especially nice step back in time for me. I think the Arizona garden stands up very well next to the Huntington's Desert Garden (although, I admit, it's been 2-3 years now since I've visited the Huntington). I was startled by the silvery trees in the opening photo, which looked like Hawaii's silverswords on steroids, until I looked at the original post and confirmed that they were constructed of glass - still, they made a beautiful accompaniment to the plants.

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    1. I am no fan of Chihuly (surprisingly I haven't been kicked out of the PNW for saying that) but those glass "trees" are a favorite of mine, I'm glad to see they're still there in Gerhard's post on the garden yesterday.

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  7. I was at the Desert Botanical Garden yesterday when I saw your post. Talk about coincidence! I agree with everything you said. A magical place of the highest order. This is my fourth visit, and I still can't get enough. Plus, things change all the time.

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    1. This visit was my third, so I guess that's just one more indication that I'm overdue for a fourth!

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  8. That 2nd pic of all the layers of various cacti is amazing. I should go out there and see it in "winter"...would be a nice effect before spring is in full force, sometime in February! Only 6-7 hours for me with free lodging at my brother's, but this day job and trying to be paid always gets in the way...

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    1. My second visit was about this time of year, 9 years ago. It's a beautiful place in the winter, hope you can get away!

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  9. I need to go there, have never been to the DBG. I like Tucson more than Phoenix, more character...

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    1. That surprises me, yes...you do need to go there! As for Tucscon vs. Phoenix I was telling someone over the holiday that if (when?) we move to Arizona someday we'd live in Tucson, the politics are much more to our way of thinking. I was later reminded that I was talking to a group of conservatives. Ha!

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  10. I wondered what the lime green plants in the first shot were....
    glass sculptures! Amazing.

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  11. Holy cow... The US is loosely pencilled in as our 2016 holiday, and this has gotta be on the list. Also, did I spot the A. macroacantha that's your header photo in part one of the visit, or was my 'aha!' moment over nothing?

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    1. Good eye! Yes, you're right - this visit is where that image was taken. I do hope you are able to visit, it's an amazing place. Let me know if you have any questions I can help with when the time comes to start planning your vacation!

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