S-STEM Scholar Setareh Zakikhani's Blog: The Desert Botanical Garden

Before I start talking about my projects and the fun field trip that we had last Friday, I would like to tell you all good luck with your finals and projects in the last couple weeks of school. I can’t believe how time flies!

If you love plants, there is a very special place to visit. And even if you don’t know anything about them there’s a wonderful way to learn about the plants and their different species, also about the animals and insects in desert, by visiting this place, which is the Desert Botanical Garden.

So on Friday, April 12^th, we went to this unique place, Desert Botanical Garden, by leading Mr. Schample, and Bioscience Department staffs (Josh, Matt, and Dijana). It was my first time visit but I can say that was such a great experience and I never forget it.


Chihuly glass sculpture

Desert Botanical Garden is an amazing place; first I thought it is just a desert garden with couple different cactus but when we got to the entrance and I saw the three Chihuly glass sculptures. I expected to see something different, which was a right guess. Almost the whole garden was in bloom with different desert flowers. The paths were divided to the separate areas and they covered by diverse collection of cactai, desert wildflowers and prickly pears. Also they were naming all different species of cactai and other desert plants. One of my favorite parts was the monumental “Four Seasons” sculptures by Philip Haas, which composed of flowers, fruits and veggies.

Summer

Spring

Autumn

Winter

Probably you could see hundreds and hundreds different cactus from all around the world but between all of them I found the “Old Man Cactus (Cephalocereus senilis)” as my favorite one. According to Wikipedia, it is native to Guanajuato and Hidalgo in eastern Mexico. I was more concern about the white hairs and I find out that “the most striking feature is the shaggy coat of long, white hairs suggestive of unkempt hair on an old man. The coat is a particularly striking silvery white on the young cactus; as the plant ages the stem begins to lose its covering. The flowers are red, yellow, or white, though the plant may not flower until 10–20 years old.” (Wikipedia.org)

Old Man Cactus

And the other amazing part was the Butterfly Exhibit, which was truly wonderful and they had 16 different species over there. Also, I learned that there are over 700 species of butterflies in North America and 326 species were found here in Arizona.