Tucson Botanical Gardens’ 40th Anniversary This is a story about vision. Not just what your eyes take in when you gaze out over a desert vista, but what your mind envisions as you peer into the distant strands of time. In this case, the foresight of several people turned a patch of dirt and shrubs into a beautiful collection of plants of many types. And as the years rolled by, others stepped in, ensuring that bulldozers wouldn’t claim the lush landscape, and paving the way not for a parking lot, but for the oasis that is today the Tucson Botanical Gardens. The Origins of the Gardens Though Tucson Botanical Gardens (TBG) is now celebrating its 40th anniversary, its roots go much farther back. If you could time travel back to the 1930s, you would see a Tucson (including outlying areas) with a population of about 33,000; a University of Arizona with less than 3,000 students; and a place committed to its green spaces, with Randolph Park (now Reid Park) being created in 1925 and Himmel Park following 10 years later. Out on what later became Alvernon Way, the Porter family (Rutger, his wife Bernice, and daughters Grace, Sophie and Cornelia) lived in a modest home with property that included a corral accommodating several horses, and plenty of room for Rutger’s passion: plants. Rutger had been a landscaper at the Desert Sanatorium (which became Tucson Medical Center), and he founded Desert Gardens Nursery literally in his own backyard. Twenty years later, local horticulturalist and plant collector Harrison Yocum placed a newspaper ad looking for other people interested in establishing a botanical garden. University of Arizona horticulture professor Dr. Leland Burkhart, law student Lillian Fisher and syndicated newspaper columnist Kay Walker showed up at Harrison’s home to plan what could be. Officially established in 1964, Tucson Botanical Gardens started up at Yocum’s home on North Jefferson Street, and as it outgrew its base of operations, it even utilized space at Randolph Park. Friends of TBG and local garden clubs organized fundraising activities to further the dream of a permanent home. Fresh out of law school, Fisher drafted the Articles of Incorporation to formalize the entity. Membership cards were drawn up; newsletters typed and published; lectures and classes were held at various locations on landscaping, insects and plant identification. In 1974, Bernice Porter became an active and interested member in Tucson Botanical Gardens; Rutger had passed away from melanoma 10 years earlier. Wanting the property that she loved so much to be enjoyed by the community, Bernice donated her home and two and a half acres to the city of Tucson, which made a deal with Tucson Botanical Gardens to manage it. She continued to live in an apartment that was fashioned out of a portion of her home until her death in 1983. For Mrs. Porter, the arrangement meant saving the house and grounds. “We just didn’t want to see this place go down under a bulldozer,” she mused in a 1975 newspaper article. “Now it will continue to offer as much pleasure to others as we have enjoyed in the past.” The following year, with the help and support from the Gardens’ Affiliate Groups, adjacent land was purchased, creating public garden space totaling five and a half acres. In May 1977, Bernice wrote, “Today a botanical garden must be much more than pleasurable, interesting, exotic. Now the necessity is a fuller understanding and application of the relationship of plants with all other life on the planet. We must realize, as never before, that plants, which are support by the earth, support the earth.” The Original Porter Garden The Porters’ garden developed from many planting experiments with a mixture of natives and Mediterranean species. Over the years, it began to reflect the sturdier choices for the Tucson climate. A wonderful landscape of winding walks, low adobe walls, fountains, and lovely greenery evolved around the home. Today, the Historical Garden contains many of the original plants from the Porter estate, including citrus, roses, privet, sweet olive, nandina, pomegranate, Aleppo pine, pyracantha, iris, chaste-tree, jasmine and others. The oasis style represented here is typical of large Tucson gardens dating from the 1920s to the mid 1960s. Growing A Garden As with most budding organizations, the dirt-under-the nails hard work of operating the Gardens was accomplished by volunteers. Michelle Conklin, TBG’s current Executive Director, gives much credit to the 20-plus Garden Affiliates for helping to create what visitors see today. According to Conklin, “From the volunteers to Anthony Edlund, hired in 1978 as the Gardens’ first Building and Ground Supervisor, to the professional staff who are now entrusted with caring for the collection and legacy, the story of the Tucson Botanical Gardens has no end.” Then, Now and the Future Since it opened to the public, the Tucson Botanical Gardens has renovated and expanded the property while preserving the Porters’ legacy as an important piece of Tucson history. Originally a large grassy area off the sun porch, the Reception Garden was a favorite family gathering space. In the late 1970s, hardscape replaced the grass, and in 1991, a raised stage was added and designated as The Alice Holsclaw Reception Garden. The Cox Butterfly & Orchid Pavilion was the initial site of the Herb Garden. Edna’s Shed, whose namesake was the housekeeper/nanny/life-long family friend of the Porters, marked the site next to the Pavilion until it was relocated to the current Herb Garden in 2010. The ’80s and ’90s saw many changes: the first annual luminaria celebration; the opening of the SAWARA Xeriscape/Solar demonstration garden; the additions of a compost demonstration area; butterfly garden; and several multicultural exhibits. A new educational building was constructed in 2000 and the popular Butterfly Magic exhibit opened in 2004. During this period, two residential homes bordering the east end of the property were purchased to accommodate the growing staff and programs. The look of the property changed again in 2010 when the Alvernon Way Gardens were inaugurated, followed a year later by installation of the large ranch sign announcing the entry to the gardens. In 2012, a pedestrian pathway, complete with new plantings and lighting, was installed in the parking lot. Plans are now underway to construct a new visitor center, gift shop and Founder’s Interpretive Gallery. Conklin notes that she also is especially excited to begin working with the members of the community and a designer to create a children’s garden. The new attraction at TBG will be designed to promote an understanding of plants and the role they play in our everyday lives; to nurture the wonder in a child’s imagination and curiosity; and to provide simple yet profound experiences and spaces that speak deeply to children and to the “inner child” of grown-ups. With these planned additions, TBG continues to demonstrate how far it has grown in 40 years, from the humble seed of the Porters’ original property, to blossoming into a community landmark that fulfills Bernice’s vision of what a botanical garden can be.