Introduction
IN THIS EPISODE GARDEN SMART VISITS THE SONORAN DESERT. Dr. Mark
Bierner is the Director of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and welcomes
Garden Smart to this wonderful spot. Boyce Thompson Arboretum is about
55 miles outside Phoenix in what is called the Upland Sonoran Desert.
It is an authentic Arizona experience. Although it's desert it is
higher in altitude than the desert floor of Phoenix, for example.
Because of this there are a lot of different plants. In addition there
have been a lot of trees planted here, so it is an arboretum, a place
one finds trees. They think of it more as an Arizona oasis than a
desert botanical garden because they have water here. With water comes
other things - things like big trees, thus shade, birds and
hummingbirds, insects and butterflies.
Click here for more info
Cactus
NEXT IS A PLANT WITH A LOT OF NICKNAMES AND A FEARSOME REPUTATION. The
reality is it's more gentile than one might expect. It is Opuntia
Cylindroppuntia fulgida Jumping Cholla. In Spanish the double LL is
pronounced like a Y. It's a member of the Opuntia family. Nicknames
are: Chain Fruit Cholla, the Jumping Cholla and the Teddy Bear Cholla.
It is called Jumping Cholla because the joints can stick in you.
Click here for more info
Eucalyptus Trees
JOE AND PAUL MOVE ON. At Paul's suggestion Joe looks up. About 160 feet
in the air stands the top of a Eucalyptus, actually Eucalyptus
camaldulensis Red Gum Tree. It is a variety of Eucalyptus tree native
to Australia. This is part of their Australian Forest that was planted
back in 1926 when the Arboretum was founded. It was a skinny little
sapling then, now it's a160 feet tall and they call it Mr. Big. They
have Eucalyptus in several different varieties. There is Iron Bark as
well as Red Gum. The bark has a beautiful look with green and grey and
white patches.
Click here for more info
Herb Garden
SMELL IS ONE OF THE THINGS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS GARDEN, touch is
another. Before they had to be careful not to touch the cactus, for
example. Here that's not the case, it's more tactile. For example, one
can drag their hand through the Thyme. It's like an Italian kitchen.
They have Society Garlic, Oregano, some Mint but they also have some
Sonoran desert plants as well. They have jojoba, chinensis Jojoba. In
Spanish the J is pronounced like an H. Thus Jojoba is pronounced
Ho-Hoba. Jojoba is used in lotions and shampoo. The oil is squeezed
from the nuts.
Click here for more info
Olive Trees
JOE AND PAUL LEAVE THE HERB GARDEN AND VISIT AN AREA WITH UNUSUAL
TREES. The first they notice is Olea europaea Common Olive Tree. These
trees are phenomenal shade trees. They're popular in Phoenix and Tucson
as a landscaping plant. They are controversial though because Olives
produce pollen as well as fruit. Certain cultivars have been outlawed
in sections of those cities for use in landscaping because of the wind
borne pollen. Green and black Olives come from the same tree, the
difference is in how they're cured.
Click here for more info
Palm Trees
JOE WANTS TO MOVE ON AND SEE THE PALM TREES. Palms are divided into 2
main categories. Those categories refer to the leaf structure.
Palmates, like the fingers and palms of your hand and Pinnate like a
feather. Phoenix canariensis Canary Date Palm is an example of the
Pinnate or feather-like structure of the fronds.
Click here for more info
Demonstration Garden and Xeriscaping
THE DEMONSTRATION GARDEN. It's about 2 and 1/2 acres and is designed to
show off landscaping techniques and ideas that people can take home and
adapt to their own landscapes. There is a tremendous color selection in
this area. Penstemon fremonti var. parryi Parry's Penstamens has a hot
pink flower. It is a native and is often seen growing alongside the
road. Verbena has a wonderful purple flower. There are Desert
Marigolds. In addition they have Agaves and Cactus, Yucca. There is a
wide selection of color and shape and form in this garden. The idea of
this garden is to showcase Xeriscaping techniques and low water usage.
Low water usage is one of the guiding tenets of the arboretum and one
of the things they try to emphasize to understand the desert in the
southwest. Xeriscaping is derived from the Greek word Xeri, or dry. So,
Xeriscaping is dry landscaping. Xeriscaping is not zero-scaping and not
zero watering. People often have the impression that desert landscaping
is no more than rocks and sand and Cactus. This walk proves that
Xeriscaping can have color and shape in abundance.
Click here for more info
LINKS:
Arizona Biltmore
Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Complete transcript of the show.
705. Upland Sonoran Desert-Boyce Thompson Arboretum
IN THIS EPISODE GARDEN SMART VISITS THE SONORAN DESERT. Dr. Mark
Bierner is the Director of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and welcomes
Garden Smart to this wonderful spot. Boyce Thompson Arboretum is about
55 miles outside Phoenix in what is called the Upland Sonoran Desert.
It is an authentic Arizona experience. Although it's desert it is
higher in altitude than the desert floor of Phoenix, for example.
Because of this there are a lot of different plants. In addition there
have been a lot of trees planted here, so it is an arboretum, a place
one finds trees. They think of it more as an Arizona oasis than a
desert botanical garden because they have water here. With water comes
other things - things like big trees, thus shade, birds and
hummingbirds, insects and butterflies. One gets the feeling when
approaching that you're leaving the desert because it becomes very
lush. Although Boyce Thompson Arboretum is an authentic Arizona
experience they also exhibit arid plants from throughout the world.
They have an Australian area, a South American area, an Asian area and
they are developing a South African area. In these areas one can see
what it would look like if you were to be in these other parts of the
world, areas with a similar climate. This is what one might experience.
It's the best of 2 worlds.
Dr. Bierner first visited here in the late 60's as a graduate student
and has continued to visit. He has been a member for over 20 years even
though he's been the Director for only 1 and 1/2 years. This Arboretum
means a lot to him and it's been a part of people's lives in the area
for years, really since it opened in 1929.
Joe next meets Paul Wolterbeck the information specialist at Boyce
Thompson Arboretum. His story is similar to Mark's. He was a visitor
and annual member for years before joining the staff. He and his wife
moved here in 1994 but he grew up on a farm in New Hampshire. He then
lived in Maine for a few years. Thus he's had to adjust his gardening
habits. He doesn't grow tomatoes anymore and has learned to live on a
lot less water. Now, he eats cactus fruits and cactus pads.
Paul welcomes Joe saying he feels it's an absolutely perfect day to be
here. There are probably a half dozen different birds singing down at
Queen Creek. And wildflowers are in bloom, it's truly a gorgeous day.
The reason this arboretum is here is because of Queen Creek. It is a
perennial stream that supports a beautiful riparian zone of Cottonwood
and Mesquite trees, as well as other native trees. Water is pumped from
Queen Creek to Air Lake which irrigates the lower gardens. Queen Creek
is why Colonel Thompson chose this location for the Arboretum. Colonel
Thompson was the man that inhabited the fantastic Pick a Post House and
it was his winter home. He was a self made millionaire in the 1920's
who made his fortune in the copper market, then invested wisely in the
stock market before it crashed. The town of Superior and also the
cities of Globe and Miami which are about 45 miles to the east owe Col.
Thompson quite a bit for the rich legacy of mining and this Arboretum
that he founded. He was politically active and led a mercy mission to
Russia during WWI to keep the Russian government in the war effort.
While traveling to Russia, at the behest of the Red Cross, he became
convinced of the importance of desert plants and how incredibly
dependent we are upon them. Thus he started Boyce Thompson Arboretum.
Joe and Paul decide to take a closer look. Paul feels one can't talk
about gardening in Arizona without first talking about water. Next to
Queen Creek is a flower most never get to see. It is Mimulus guttatus
Yellow Monkey Flower. If you crouch down you can see the monkey's face
in the yellow petals. It's a wildflower and it can only seen around
good water sources in the springtime.
They next decide to look at a completely different environment and head
over to the Cactus Garden where there are Prickly Pears, Cholla and
Solaras. On the way they pass some Fishhook Barrels. The name says it
all. They have thorns like hooks and will get into your skin.
They get up close to a Opuntia Prickly Pear Cactus. Paul gardens with
these, uses them for landscaping. They're easy to grow. All is needed
is to take a pair of metal barbeque tongs, grab a leaf, cut it where
the 2 joints meet, let the cut edge scab over and heal for a couple of
days and dry. Then put it in sandy soil, it'll put out roots within a
few weeks and form a clone plant from the original parent plant. The
fruit is delicious. Squeeze the fruit and juice them, they make great
margaritas.
Top
NEXT IS A PLANT WITH A LOT OF NICKNAMES AND A FEARSOME REPUTATION. The
reality is it's more gentile than one might expect. It is Opuntia
Cylindroppuntia fulgida Jumping Cholla. In Spanish the double LL is
pronounced like a Y. It's a member of the Opuntia family. Nicknames
are: Chain Fruit Cholla, the Jumping Cholla and the Teddy Bear Cholla.
It is called Jumping Cholla because the joints can stick in you. If you
brush against that joint it can get lodged in your skin or on your
shirt. The best way to get it out is to take a comb, stick the barb
between the joint of the comb and flick it off. But flick it fast.
Other names for this plant are Chain Fruit Cholla, one can see that
because it has chains of fruit hanging down. Teddy Bear cholla because
all the spines give it a soft looking glow in the right kind of light.
Many think they're lovable, birds do. Paul counts 4 different nests in
this plant. There is a Cactus Wren nest, a Curve Billed Thrasher nest
and he thinks a Verdin nest. It's spectacular.
Joe and Paul next stop by a Barrel Cactus and several desert
wildflowers. The first is a Baileya multiradiata Desert Marigold, and
there is a Commelina dianthifolia Western Day Flower which is just
about to bloom. It will be bluish purple in the next few days.
Ferocactus wislizeni Fish-Hook Barrel, Barrel Cactus are great for
landscaping, they have beautiful flowers which should be flowering
anytime. There's some misinformation about Barrel Cactus. One is the
myth that people can get water from cactus. Not likely. The absolutely
mature Cactus are so loaded with oxalic acid that it would not be
healthy to get water from them. The Barrel Cactus is one readily
available in gift shops or home improvement stores, although smaller
than this plant. They're excellent for landscaping as long as they're
put in sandy, well drained soils. The biggest mistake that we as
homeowners make is to take it home and over water it.
Echinopsis oxygona Easter Lily Cactus is a beautiful cactus. The giant
white blossoms are about the size of a desert plate. This is the start
of the Cactus flowering season and these will have white flowers within
the next few weeks. Then the Opuntia species will come in. The Prickly
Pears will have big, beautiful yellow blossoms, very lush. The Cholla
flower is red and will change from red to magenta. By about May and
June the Suguaro, the Sentinel of the Desert, will bloom and those are
white, like little tea cups perched at the end of their branches. For
about 9 months of the year Cactus are fairly nondescript but for 3
months they're spectacular. Like the ugly duckling and the beautiful
swan.
Top
JOE AND PAUL MOVE ON. At Paul's suggestion Joe looks up. About 160 feet
in the air stands the top of a Eucalyptus, actually Eucalyptus
camaldulensis Red Gum Tree. It is a variety of Eucalyptus tree native
to Australia. This is part of their Australian Forest that was planted
back in 1926 when the Arboretum was founded. It was a skinny little
sapling then, now it's a 160 feet tall and they call it Mr. Big. They
have Eucalyptus in several different varieties. There is Iron Bark as
well as Red Gum. The bark has a beautiful look with green and grey and
white patches. Very attractive. They are popular for shade trees and
landscaping around Arizona, often seen in Tucson and Phoenix. Paul
recounts that the musical instrument the didgeridoo is an Australian
instrument made from the hollowed out tree branches of the Eucalyptus
tree. They're hollowed out by termites and Australian Aborigines play
it like a woodwind.
We next visit the Herb Garden. It is certainly more familiar to a lot
of people. Unlike the outdoor Cactus Garden that only grows in certain
parts of the country, an herb garden can grow all across the country.
Joe smelled orange blossoms on the way in. It's a Citrus Tree at its
peak and is gorgeous.
Top
SMELL IS ONE OF THE THINGS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS GARDEN, touch is
another. Before they had to be careful not to touch the cactus, for
example. Here that's not the case, it's more tactile. For example, one
can drag their hand through the Thyme. It's like an Italian kitchen.
They have Society Garlic, Oregano, some Mint but they also have some
Sonoran desert plants as well. They have jojoba, chinensis Jojoba. In
Spanish the J is pronounced like an H. Thus Jojoba is pronounced
Ho-Hoba. Jojoba is used in lotions and shampoo. The oil is squeezed
from the nuts. Jojoba helped bring about the decline of the whaling
industry because Jojoba became a substitute for whale oil. Rosemary
grows like a weed here, growing thick and robust. It smells fantastic
and is aromatic. Paul's Mom lives in New Hampshire and can barely grow
Rosemary. Paul next shows Joe a little yellow flower called Berlandiera
lyrata Chocolate Flower and when getting close it actually smells like
chocolate. Paul had an awful summer cold several summers ago. So, he
tried another herb - Eriodictyon californicum Yerba Santa. It is known
for its medicinal properties. He made a tea from the leaves. It wasn't
tasty but was effective.
Top
JOE AND PAUL LEAVE THE HERB GARDEN AND VISIT AN AREA WITH UNUSUAL
TREES. The first they notice is Olea europaea Common Olive Tree. These
trees are phenomenal shade trees. They're popular in Phoenix and Tucson
as a landscaping plant. They are controversial though because Olives
produce pollen as well as fruit. Certain cultivars have been outlawed
in sections of those cities for use in landscaping because of the wind
borne pollen. Green and black Olives come from the same tree, the
difference is in how they're cured. When they're ripe they're black but
rather pithy and bitter. They need to be cured. To do this they are
soaked in salt and possibly lye, that's how they are made edible.
They're cured differently, but they're the same, the black and green
Olives. If looking for Olive trees acceptable for landscaping and the
desert eco system one can buy varieties of Olive trees that don't
produce fruit and also don't produce pollen.
Top
JOE WANTS TO MOVE ON AND SEE THE PALM TREES.
Palms are divided into 2 main categories. Those categories refer to the
leaf structure. Palmates, like the fingers and palms of your hand and
Pinnate like a feather. Phoenix canariensis Canary Date Palm is an
example of the Pinnate or feather-like structure of the fronds. These
trees are favored by Orioles, those gorgeous yellow and black birds
that are migrants and come here in the spring. They actually weave a
basket the size of a baseball from the Palm and make their nests in
there. These trees are an important food source. The Canary Island Date
Palm produces dates but they must be hand pollinated because they're
very sensitive. Some of these Palms are over 40 feet tall.
Top
THE DEMONSTRATION GARDEN, we've just visited the Palm trees and the Olive Grove now we're in
another oasis. It's about 2 and 1/2 acres and
is designed to show off landscaping techniques and ideas that people
can take home and adapt to their own landscapes. There is a tremendous
color selection in this area. Penstemon fremonti var. parryi Parry's
Penstamens has a hot pink flower. It is a native and is often seen
growing alongside the road. Verbena has a wonderful purple flower.
There are Desert Marigolds. In addition they have Agaves and Cactus,
Yucca. There is a wide selection of color and shape and form in this
garden. The idea of this garden is to showcase Xeriscaping techniques
and low water usage. Low water usage is one of the guiding tenets of
the arboretum and one of the things they try to emphasize to understand
the desert in the southwest. Xeriscaping is derived from the Greek word
Xeri, or dry. So, Xeriscaping is dry landscaping. Xeriscaping is not
zero-scaping and not zero watering. People often have the impression
that desert landscaping is no more than rocks and sand and Cactus. This
walk proves that Xeriscaping can have color and shape in abundance.
Xeriscaping is not about a type of plant, more the techniques that are
applied, no matter where one lives whether it be the desert southwest
or the Pacific northwest, one must learn about the right plant for the
right location. One can have a Xeriscape landscape wherever they live
and it can be beautiful. And these techniques can adapt to a big
garden, a big flower garden or a postage sized back yard.
Joe and Paul comment on all the birds calling in the area. Paul hears a
Northern Cardinal, Lesser Goldfinch and Hummingbirds, it's a great
garden for birds and flowers.
They next view a Penstemon eatonii Firecracker Penstamen, it's as red
as the Northern Cardinal and as beautiful. They're very desert adapted
and often seen growing along the roadsides. And, they don't take a lot
of water. The garden also has some Globe Mallow, this is pink but they
also come in orange. It also has Verbena and Desert Marigold. There is
lot of color. They have brought in some indigenous rock for the
hardscape. It adds variety, some interest year round when some of these
plants aren't in bloom and they fit with the landscape. They've
utilized Rhyolite, a native stone that was quarried about a half mile
away.
The guys next look at a smaller Demonstration Garden. It is an example
of what can be done in a small space and possibly something for someone
with physical limitations. It is one small bed but has a variety of
plants. It has everything from succulents, such as a beautiful Ice
Plant which is flowering to Agaves. Paul's favorite Agave is Queen
Victoria agave, Agave victoriae-reginae. They have beautiful lines.
There are other Cacti in here, for example Red Spine Barrel, which is
about to flower. There are many other plants in the area which shows
how much variety can be packed into a small space. Because it's a
raised bed it's easy to come in and work, it has easy access which
could be most helpful for an older person or someone with physical
limitations. It also has lights which allows one to enjoy the garden at
night. This area shows that one doesn't need a lot of space to have a
lot of impact and a beautiful garden.
Joe thanks Paul for showing us Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It has been a
wonderful experience and Paul has been a wonderful tour guide. We'll
long remember this Arboretum and hope many in our audience will get the
opportunity to visit.
Top
LINKS:
Arizona Biltmore
Boyce Thompson Arboretum
