"It'll be there in five minutes," the dispatcher had assured me. An hour-and-a-half and three follow-up calls later, the cab finally arrived.
"And how are you today?" the driver asked with a cheerful smile, oblivious of my long wait. It was still an hour's drive to the garden and daylight was slipping away. Naturally, I wasn't in the best of moods.
But once I entered the Harriet K. Maxwell Desert Wildflower Trail, one of five themed trails in the garden, everything changed. Almost immediately I felt enveloped by a sense of tranquillity and calm.
Perhaps it was the sight of butterflies fluttering between the desert marigolds and the Angelita daisies, or the way the late afternoon sun cast an outline of glowing light on the fuzzy Teddybear cholla plant.
There were only a few other people around this late in the day. Most of the time it was just me, a few reptiles basking in the sun, rabbits hopping to and fro, and 50,000 desert plants to enjoy.
My timing couldn't have been better. During spring, the Arizona landscape blooms with wildflowers. Desert plants and cacti sprout new leaves, branches, arms and pads. Animals are active in the daytime gathering food, building homes and enjoying warmer days.
It was a surprise to see the prickly pear cactus, which typically begins to bloom in early May, already flowering in April. It's a sure sign of spring when spikes of fiery red, tubular blossoms flame at the end of the whip-like branches of the ocotillo shrub.
The show-stopper was the canopy of yellow blossoms on the Palo Verde trees. It made me think back to the time I'd spent at the Boulders Resort, which has a lovely desert garden.
In an effort to keep everything looking pristine, the grounds keepers, to my dismay, had raked up all of the tree's golden blossoms. But here, the flowers remained where they'd fallen, creating a spectacular yellow earthen carpet, too beautiful to ignore.
Even when not in bloom, Arizona's state tree, a native species of the Sonoran Desert, is worth admiring for its green-coloured trunk and branches. (Palo Verde is Spanish for green stick).
Using the free trail map, I tried to identify the various animals to be found here. No sign of the desert tortoise or the Gila woodpecker, but I did see a few cactus wrens and Gambel's quails, lots of black-tailed jackrabbits, and Anna's hummingbirds, as well two shy desert spiny lizards.
Mention the word "desert," and for many it conjures an image of a vast desolate region. But the number and variety of desert plants is actually quite astounding. The Desert Botanical Garden alone has more than 21,000 plants representing 139 plant families.
Nestled amid the buttes of Papago Park, it claims to be the only botanical garden in the world whose mission from its inception was to focus solely on desert plants. Founded by environmentalist Gertrude Divine Webster in 1939, the garden is a "Phoenix Point of Pride," and one of 36 botanical gardens in the United States accredited by the American Association of Museums.
Spread out over 58 hectares, the collection is especially strong in cactus, agaves, aloes and the flora of the Sonoran Desert. You'll also find 169 rare, threatened or endangered plant species from the world's deserts, especially the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico.
If you can't make it in April, the months referred to as dry summer -- May and June -- are equally beautiful.
That's when the Saguaro cacti and queen of the night plants bloom with bats and moths drinking their nectar at night.
Watching the sunflowers bend with the fading light I realized it was time to leave.
"How was it?" asked my taxi driver, when I emerged at closing time.
"Great," I chirped, feeling thoroughly recharged.
It's amazing what the desert in springtime can do to lift your spirits.
WRITER@INTERLOG.COM
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MORE INFORMATION
Desert Botanical Garden is at 1201 North Galvin Parkway. Admission is $15 (prices in U.S. dollars) for adults, $13.50 seniors (60 and up) $7.50 students, $5 children (age 3-12), and free for children under 3. See dbg.org. For travel info, check visitphoenix.com or scottsdalecvb.com.
You may want to time your visit to coincide with one of three events this spring.
- Spiked! presents Chihuly Nights. Every Thursday night until May 14, one of the garden's will feature a different glass sculpture by artist Dale Chihuly paired with a Chihuly-inspired cocktail. Price $25.
- The Spring Jazz in the Garden concert series continues Fridays nights through June 26. Price $20 for non-members.
- Butterfly exhibit: Butterflies will surround you as they flutter about the Marshall Butterfly Pavilion. Until May 31 you can view the scaly-winged friends up close at a "discovery station." Price $3 for non-members.
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