You might not think of the word ‘green’ when you think of Arizona – but the State is more than just desert with a few cactus!
The Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens is a showcase of arid-land plants from deserts around the world. This Dale Chihuly Glass Sculpture– Desert Towers welcomes visitors. It was installed as the entry-point to Chihuly’s first Desert Botanical exhibition in 2008. The installation was purchased by the Garden as a legacy to the exhibition.
East of Phoenix are the Superstition Mountains. In the spring, they sport a coat of green, sprinkled with bursts of color when the desert plants bloom. The mountains rise steeply to an elevation of 5,024 feet, and are characterized by sheer-sided, jagged, volcanic peaks and ridges.
North and east of Phoenix is the Water Users Recreation Site on the Salt River in Tonto National Forest. The Tonto National Forest, encompassing 2,873,200 acres, is the largest of the six national forests in Arizona and is the fifth largest national forest in the United States.
North of Phoenix is the community of Fountain Hills. At noon on St. Patrick’s Day, the water of the Fountain Hills Fountain is tinted green, and when it is turned on, it shoots to the maximum height of 560 feet. Normally the height of the fountain is limited to 330 feet. It runs for 15 minutes at the top of each hour from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day of the week!
Winter in ‘Zona is springtime
Spring is summer askew
Summer is torturous hellfire
Autumn is summer part II
– Terri Guillemets, “Spring sun,” 1993 –
This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge is It IS Easy Being Green!
Amusives 
This is delightful and reminds me of my late 1980s visit. Love the green fountain. Your layout is fresh and compelling.
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The fountain is a big attraction all year round, but really draws the crowds to St. Patrick’s Day events! Thank you for visiting my blog!
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Those are beautiful! I am patiently waiting for Iowa to turn green.
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I noticed you posted your first green sighting, so Iowa must finally be greening up!
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We are slowly starting. Have had some rains and with the last two sunny days our grass is looking greener already! My chicken love it and so do I.
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I am green with envy!
The variety of greens that are displayed in the Arizonan desert are too numerous to count. They vary from silver green to lime green to emerald green and every other green imaginable.
“Springtime in Paris” is not nearly as exciting as springtime in the Phoenix area. All plants and creatures are alive and strutting their stuff.
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I love walking every morning – so many greens, but all the yellow, orange, pink, red, purple and blue blossoms make it seem like the landscape is full of fireworks.
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Gorgeous greens. I didn’t how green Arizona could be. Wonderful photos for the Green challenge.
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We’ve had decent rains the past few months, and that makes a big difference this year.
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I love going to the Desert Botanical! One of my favorite things about living in Phoenix is seeing how the desert responds to a bit of rain. All the plants pull out their best colors and fragrance, taking advantage of the moisture while they have it. 🤗
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I’m also a big fan of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Not so flashy, but a great walk. We combined our last visit to Boyce with a trip to the Center for the Arts in Globe. It is in the restored Old Gila County Courthouse.
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Lovely photos! I’m a huge fan of Chihuly. We went to his museum in Seattle last fall where they also have an outside garden. I was struck, as I am here, that something so delicate and expensive would be put outside, exposed to the elements.
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I suppose glass, like an egg, has strength in certain directions. I keep wondering how they clean them. I know how my windows look after a season of rain and dust!
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I hadn’t imagined that there would be quite so much green to find in Arizona.
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It is all about time and location! Here in the foothills, with enough spring rain, the hills wear a green coat!
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Does the green coat last for long?
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The short grasses and spring flowers have already turned brown. The ocotillo have bloomed and now their leaves are turning brown and will drop off (but will sprout again with the summer rains.) The bushes and trees will be green all summer.
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It sounds fascinating, actually, and strange to think that it is only April and things have already turned brown. It will be nice to see the ocotillo having a second flush of colour later in the year.
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Beautiful pictures…
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