co-presented with the nature conservancy
January 16 - April 1
Developed by The Nature Conservancy, the Design for a Living World exhibit includes works by ten prominent designers that used sustainable materials from around the world to recreate everyday objects. Read more.
Friday, January 27, 8 p.m. | Saturday, January 28, 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
The Arizona Premiere
The Garden and Ballet Arizona present the Arizona premiere of MOMIX: Botanica. The show combines athletic dance, riveting music, outrageous costumes, inventive props, and pure talent. Click here for tickets.
Center for Desert Living Trail
Explore
A desert gardener's delight - this trail showcases ideas and strategies that demonstrate efficient, useful, sustainable and harmonious ways to work with nature in the desert environment. This trail includes the Steele Herb Garden.
Sundays | 12 - 2 p.m. (Doors open at 11 a.m.)
Up Next: Pat Roberts and the Heymakers
Member $15
Music in the Garden continues on January 29 with the rockabilly blues of Pat Roberts and the Heymakers. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
Ottosen Entry Garden
Explore
Opened in November 2009, the Ottosen Entry Garden serves as Desert Botanical Garden’s grand lobby and features dramatic displays of cacti and succulents designed to showcase the beauty and diversity of desert plants.
Thursday nights | 6-8:30 p.m.
Avant-Garden Goes Global!
Member $12
This winter, avant-garden goes global and transforms Boppart Courtyard into one of the destinations featured in the Design for a Living World exhibit. Next up is Micronesia, click here for more info.
Desert Discovery Loop Trail
Explore
The Desert Discovery Loop Trail is the Garden’s main trail where you can learn the unique characteristics of desert plants from around the world...more info.
Latest Activities & Updates
See What's New
Design for a Living World Speaker Series
Presented by The Dorrance Family Foundation
In conjunction with the Design for a Living World exhibit, opening January 16, the Design for a Living World Speaker Series will begin January 25. The series includes three free lectures each highlighting a different aspect of conservation.
- Design from the Desert
- Wednesday | February 8 | 7 p.m.
- Free (Museum is open and free from 3 to 9 p.m.)
- Phoenix Art Museum | Whiteman Hall
- Design for the New Sustainable Revolution
- Tuesday | February 21 | 7 p.m.
- Free | ASU Tempe Campus | Neeb Hall (920 S. Forest Mall)
- No reservations required
2011/2012 National Geographic Live! Speaker Series
at Mesa Arts Center
Coming up next in the 2011/2012 National Geographic Live! Speaker Series is eco-advnturer Roz Savage on February 8.
Savage has rowed both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and this year will complete a journey across the Indian Ocean before appearing before Arizona audiences to tell her latest story!
- Tickets are on sale through Mesa Arts Center
- Tickets begin at $26
- To purchase tickets: Call 480.644.6500 or visit www.mesaartscenter.com.
Dance in the Desert
in collaboration with Ballet Arizona
The Desert Botanical Garden and Ballet Arizona have partnered this year to bring you "Dance in the Desert." The series includes the Arizona premier of MOMIX: Botanica on January 27 and 28.
The series continues in May with Topia, a brand new ballet by Ib Andersen, Artistic Director of Ballet Arizona. Topia will be performed in an intimate desert spaced at the Garden overlooking the dynamic red rocks of Papago Buttes.
Tickets for both performances are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Ballet Arizona Box Office at 602 381.1096 or through Ticketmaster.
Maps, Trails, & More
Explore the Garden
What's Blooming in the Garden
wildflowers, cacti, trees and more!
With approximately fifty acres under cultivation, something is always blooming at the Desert Botanical Garden. Check here for weekly updates about what's blooming in the Garden!
Ottosen Entry Garden
Begin your journey...
Opened in November 2009, the Ottosen Entry Garden serves as Desert Botanical Garden’s grand lobby and features dramatic displays of cacti and succulents designed to showcase the beauty and diversity of desert plants and set the stage for your Garden experience.
Wind your way amongst our scenic trails and don't forget to become a member for unlimited annual access!
Other trails and exhibits in the Garden include:
- Desert Discovery Loop Trail
- Plants & People of the Sonoran Desert Loop Trail
- Sonoran Desert Nature Loop Trail
- Steele Herb Garden
- Harriett K. Maxwell Desert Wildflower Loop Trail
- Sybil B. Harrington Cactus & Succulent Galleries
- Berlin Agave Yucca Forest
Need help planning your visit? Download a Garden Trail Map or take a look at the Before you Visit page. We look forward to seeing you!
Plants & People of the Sonoran Desert Loop Trail
approximately 1/3 of a mile
Need help planning your visit? Download a Garden Trail Map or take a look at the Before you Visit page. We look forward to seeing you!
Become a member today for unlimited annual access!
This trail closes at sunset.
The Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert Trail, established in 1989 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, is one of the largest exhibits of its kind dedicated to helping people understand the complex cultural relationships between people and plants in our region.
The trail winds through five habitats that have provided people with useful plants for food, fiber, medicine and cultural purposes for 2,000 years: Desert, Desert Oasis, Mesquite Bosque, Semi-desert Grassland, and Chaparral. The story of these relationships is brought to life through cultural examples of the Tonoho O’odham, Western Apache and Hispanic households which you can explore.
Desert Discovery Loop Trail
trail is about 1/3 mile
Need help planning your visit? Download a Garden Trail Map or take a look at the Before you Visit page. We look forward to seeing you!
Become a member today for unlimited annual access!
The Desert Discovery Loop Trail is the Garden’s main trail where you can learn the unique characteristics of desert plants from around the world. Along the way you can explore the great diversity of form, texture and color found in this wondrous array of cacti and succulents from around the world.
Exhibits along this trail include:
- Sybil B. Harrington Cactus and Succulent Galleries
- Berlin Agave Yucca Forest
- Seasonal butterfly exhibits in the Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Butterfly Pavilion
Sonoran Desert Nature Loop Trail
approximately 1/4 of a mile
Need help planning your visit? Download a Garden Trail Map or take a look at the Before you Visit page. We look forward to seeing you!
Become a member today for unlimited annual access!
This trail closes at sunset.
This trail features dramatic vistas of distant mountains and up-close views of the surrounding desert. A variety of fascinating exhibits focus on the plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert. Experience majestic organ pipe cactus and find out if the cholla cactus really jumps.
Center for Desert Living Trail
includes the Steele Herb Garden
A desert gardener's delight - this trail showcases ideas and strategies that demonstrate efficient, useful, sustainable and harmonious ways to work with nature in the desert environment. This trail includes the Steele Herb Garden.
Harriet K Maxwell Desert Wildflower Loop Trail
approximately 1/3 of a mile
Need help planning your visit? Download a Garden Trail Map or take a look at the Before you Visit page. We look forward to seeing you!
Become a member today for unlimited annual access!
This trail closes at sunset.
The Harriet K. Maxwell Desert Wildflower Loop Trail encompasses nearly two acres of North American desert wildflower exhibits planted with year-round displays. Just as in nature, the wildflower bloom is unpredictable and relies on the right combination and timing of rain and temperature. While wildflowers bloom all year long, the peak wildflower season is during the months of March and April.
Find out where the wildflowers are this season by visiting our Wildflowers page for weekly updates March-April.
Sybil B. Harrington Cactus and Succulent Galleries
exhibit
Need help planning your visit? Download a Garden Trail Map or take a look at the Before you Visit page. We look forward to seeing you!
Become a member today for unlimited annual access!
The Sybil B. Harrington Cactus and Succulent Galleries, located along the Desert Discovery Loop Trail, enables the Garden to tell a more complete story about both its collection and the evolution of desert plants. The Cactus Gallery showcases the cactus families from various desert regions of the North and Central American deserts, including hot and dry deserts, high-elevation deserts and coastal deserts.
The Succulent Gallery showcases succulent plants from around the world, exclusive of the cactus family. Both galleries allow for the comparison of the fantastic diversity and sculptural drama exhibited by these plants.
Berlin Agave Yucca Forest
exhibit
Need help planning your visit? Download a Garden Trail Map or take a look at the Before you Visit page. We look forward to seeing you!
Become a member today for unlimited annual access!
The Berlin Agave Yucca Forest, located along The Desert Discovery Loop Trail, is a dramatic display of plants from the agave, yucca and nolina families. The exhibit is accessed via a bridge that takes you from the Desert Discovery Loop Trail, along a natural wash, to the yucca forest below. As you enter, step out onto Joy’s Overlook, an observation point that provides dramatic vistas of the exhibit topography and the Garden Butte.
Tours & Activities
See the Garden from a different point of view
Experience the wonders of the Sonoran Desert through a variety of tours and interactive activities at the Garden.
We have tours and activities designed for individuals, groups and schools:
- Daily Tours for Individuals (Free for Garden members! Become a member today.)
- Group Tours and Activities
- School Tours and Field Trips
