This April I made a pilgrimage to the desert to see spring blooms and commune with the Saguaros. I visited both Tuscon and Phoenix, Arizona to see the Saguaro National Forest as well as the Desert Botanic Gardens and Tuscon Botanic Garden.

Of all the places I’ve been in the last several months, spring in the desert was the most thrilling and beautiful experience. While spring bulbs and tree blooms are lovely in their own right, there is nothing like seeing the desert flowering after a spring rain where the palo verdes, opuntias, Saguaros, barrel cacti, and brush are budding and blooming in fiery colors across the dull beige and brown of the desert.

Saguaro National Forest

The Saguaro National Forest is located in the Saguaro National Park just outside of Tuscon, Arizona. The entirety of the park covers 91,327 acres and encompasses 2 areas within the Sonoran Desert: the cactus forest and the Rincon Mountain District.

According to the National Park Service’s website, the park was originally named Saguaro National Monument and  was established by Herbert Hoover in 1933 as  with the purpose of preserving “iconic” western plants and landscapes. Specifically, the Saguaro National Monument meant to preserve the Saguaro cactus as it captured the American imagination as the symbol of the western frontier.

There are more than 2,000 species of plants in the Sonoran Desert, which is the “greatest species diversity of any desert in North America.” The most well known of these plants is, of course, the Saguaro cactus. Saguaros have the tough, waxy skin and spines like other cacti. Their waxy skin is to help them produce food and their spines provide “shade and protect” it from animals. One of the saguaro’s most unique features is its woody skeleton, which is “concealed inside the plant” and upholds the cactus’girth, which is a lot considering most of a saguaro’s bulk is water. According to the Saguaro National Park’s website, a saguaro is “80 to 90 percent water when filled” and  “sixty percent of the saguaro’s water content can be lost without damage” to the plant, which makes it the ultimate survivor of the desert.

As a visitor to the desert I was struck with the spiritual connection I felt while looking out at the great expanses where the earth and sky were connected by cacti. While poking around one of the visitor centers I found that this feeling is not new to those who come to the desert or those who live there. In fact, the Native American tribes Hohokam and Tohono O’odham who had once lived on this land also believe their home is a sacred place and that each Saguaro cactus is a human relative who has since died. According to the Tohono O’odham Community Action website, “the saguaro cactus is an honored relative. The towering cactus provides for the physical and spiritual sustenance of the people.” One of the ways the Saguaro provides for the tribe is through the Saguaro fruit harvest each Hashañi Mashad, which corresponds to the month of June in the western Gregorian calendar. You can learn more about the fruit harvest via the  Tohono O’odham Community Action page and through the National Park Service here. You can also read more about the cultural resources at the park here.

When I went to Saguaro National Forest, it was the tail end of the cactus and wildflower blooms in the desert and the beginning of Saguaro blooming. It was an incredible experience to see this landscape so colorful and alive. Check out my gallery to see the best of Saguaro National Park.

Saguaro cactus flowers just beginning to bloom.

Opuntia cactus flowers and tuna in Saguaro National Park

There had just been a rain before I came to the desert and all of brush including the cacti were blooming red, orange, pink, and yellow.

A saguaro cactus cluster next to the more iconic Saguaro with arms.

An opuntia blooms in front of Saguaros, teddy bear cactus, and scrubby brush.

All these beautiful cacti made me want to howl at the desert moon (pictured just at the top left.)

Saguaro buds just beginning to bloom. Come June they’ll be ripening fruit for the annual harvest.

Desert Botanical Garden

What is one to do and where is one to go once finished with climbing over rocks and fawning over cacti in their natural habitat? Go to the Desert Botanic Garden of course!

The garden is located between Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, and, according to the Desert Botanical Garden’s website, has a collection that includes “more than 4,000 species and approximately 27,650 individual plants for which scientific records are kept.” This number includes the 13,244 “accessioned” cacti, which means that these cacti all have records of their origin, the year they came to the garden, and who collected them. All of these plants are curated and contained in 140 acres, which includes 6 expansive garden exhibits and neighboring Papago Park. Needless to say, in order to see it all, I had to visit twice.

My absolute favorite place in the Desert Botanical Garden was the Desert Discovery Loop Trail. This trail is the main thoroughfare of the garden. It’s 1/3 of a mile long and contains plants from all over the world. My favorites along this trail were the Boojum tree,  the Saguaros, and the opuntia. Fun fact about the Boojum tree: “Boojum tree” is the English name for the cirio, and was given the English name of “Boojum” because it resembled the beast in Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunt of the Snark.”

Papago Park is located directly next to the Desert Botanical Garden, and boasts views of Phoenix, Tempe, Hunts Tomb, a desert oasis, and lots of Saguaro cacti as well as walking trails that take you “through Sonoran desert habitat.” It’s also home to the infamous “Hole-in-the-Rock,” which is where you can view the scenery through a naturally constructed hole in the rock.

Take a gander at my favorite plants from the Desert Botanical Garden and views from Papago Park. Words just don’t do them justice:

The Desert Botanical Garden has over “13,244 accessioned” cacti, which means the garden has a record of where it came from, who collected it, and when it came to the garden.

At the head of the Desert Discovery trail there is my dream house.

Although the grounds of the garden are curated, the plants still appear as they would in the wilds of the Sonoran Desert.

The palo verde tree has green bark and blooms yellow flowers in spring. Because the tree has few leaves, the chlorophyll in the bark helps the plant perform photosynthesis.

Cacti trumpet their blooms for all to see.

Opuntia buds in the sunshine. In the back is a boojum treen and one of the sandstone buttes of Papago Park.

The most interesting thing I learned about Arizona is that it is home to over a dozen humming bird species that thrive off of desert flowers and stop here on the way to the tropics further south.

Sybil B Harrington Cactus and Succulent Garden

Opuntia flowers come in every fiery color imaginable. I especially like the red and pink ones.

Palo verde, the Boojum tree, a mocking bird, and the red buttes of Papago Park.

The Boojum tree is the English name for the cirio. It was named after the boojum in Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark.”

The Desert Botanical Garden is also home to the Sonoran grassland where long grasses and Saguaro cacti coexist.

Saguaro cactus and palo verde are Arizona’s most iconic plants.

Garden goals: grow an opuntia as happy as this one.

Golden barrel cacti stand in the shadow of the Saguaro.

Papago Park: A View from the Parking Lot

The one and only Hole-in-the-Rock. There’s nothing quite like the view framed by this rock.

A Perspective: Hole-in-the-Rock and the Desert Oasis

Palm trees do grow in the desert.

Tuscon Botanical Garden

Last, but certainly not least, is the Tuscon Botanical Garden. This garden houses 16 gardens on 5 acres, and is much more manageable as a day trip. Of my favorites were the children’s garden, cactus and succulent garden, the butterfly green house, the iris garden, and Nuestro Jardin, or Barrio Garden. I greatly appreciated the variety of plants that Tuscon Botanical Garden has to offer as well as how most of their collection is dedicated to the native plants of Arizona. The most surprising feature of the garden was its butterfly green house, which is an orchid house that houses “over 120 different varieties of butterflies from 11 different countries” as well as 4 different dart frog varieties. While I may have been in awe of the mighty cactus and succulent displays of the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, I was truly inspired by the Tucson garden. Their native plant presentations as well as their bench and tile features have made to my garden goals.

The Children’s Garden was filled with colorful plants and was a place where kids and adults alike can learn about plant stages of growth and parts of flowers.

The opuntia get me every time. I can’t wait to add another one to my plant colony.

The barrel cacti bowl over each other for the best light.

Devil’s Tongue barrel cacti grow in fiery lines. Another cactus to add to the plant colony.

The cactus and succulent garden was a sight to see mixed with shade from palo verde trees.

Colorful benched were found throughout the garden. This one was my favorite.

The butterfly green house is home to 120 different varieties of butterflies. This one was the size of both my hands.

There is a display of irises tucked away beneath a shady spot of the garden. In April the irises are at their peak.

The Herb Garden was still recovering from winter, but there were some edible greens poking through the soil.

Towards the back of the garden were several sour orange trees. When the leaves are steeped, the tea is said to be good for the gall bladder and helps to curb anger.

Nuestro Jardin is a garden that pays homage to Mexican-American barrio (neighborhood) gardens. The shrine was a prominent and important fixture.

Do you have questions about my visit to these fabulous desert gardens? Are you looking to plan a trip? Or do you just have questions about your indoor and outdoor plant babies?  If you’d like to know more about my trip or if you have questions about your plant colony, leave a comment below or feel free to contact The Garden Generalist. I would love to hear from you!

Want to stay in touch with The Garden Generalist? Would you like to keep up with my visits to gardens across the country? Keep checking the blog for more features, and don’t forget to visit The Garden Generalist on instagram for sneak peeks of my garden visits and weekly plant baby spotlights. Coming up is Tulip Time in Holland Michigan as well as a visit to 3 botanic gardens in Chicago.