The Gardens

Aloe Alley

A quiet, shady path lined with various species of aloe. A local favorite among people and pollinators alike! Aloes bloom in early spring and hummingbirds and bees love to feed on the bright yellow and pink blooms.

Backyard Bird Garden

A shady space featuring plants that attract birds with ideal food and habitat. This is a great spot for bird-watching! Look for hummingbirds, cardinals, finches, and thrashers year-round.

Barrio Garden, Nuestro Jardin

Nuestro Jardín, the Barrio Garden, honors Tucson’s traditional Mexican-American neighborhood gardens with a charming and colorful display of flowers, trees, and herbs commonly found in these traditional gardens. Throughout you’ll find everyday objects repurposed into planters, small adornments and charms hanging from branches, and an ofrenda (altar) with offerings to loved ones.

Butterfly Garden

This garden space houses a variety of seasonal flowering plants that attract regional and migrating pollinators including monarchs, queens, and orange racers. The Gardens is a certified monarch butterfly waystation, be on the lookout for caterpillars! For tropical butterflies and moths, visit the Cox Butterfly & Orchid Pavilion.

Cactus & Succulent Garden

This space features over 500 cactus and succulents from deserts around the world. See familiar species from the Southwestern United States and Mexico to garden beds full of species you may have never seen from Central and South America, and Africa.

Children’s Discovery Garden

A great spot to play and discover with activities to learn about the life cycle of a plant, and interactive sensory activities to explore the natural world.

Compost Demonstration Area

Want to compost, but not sure how? This area was developed in partnership with Tank’s Green Stuff and shows multiple ways to set up a backyard composting site. Live demonstrations are scheduled throughout the year – see our events calendar for upcoming dates.

Cox Butterfly & Orchid Pavilion

Home to Butterfly Magic, the Pavilion is Southern Arizona’s only tropical butterfly greenhouse! This exhibit features butterflies from South America and Asia and artfully displays tropical plants such as Orchids, Hibiscus, Sword Ferns, air plants, and Bromeliads. Open October – May.

Herb Garden

This garden is styled after a Victorian style herb garden with trellises, climbing plants, topiary, and potted plants. There is a rich variety of herbs used historically for culinary, fragrance, and medicinal purposes.

Historic Porter Gardens

These are the original patio and garden spaces attached to the historic Porter family home. Many of the trees and shrubs around this area of the garden were planted during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s – including olive, myrtle, and dwarf citrus.

Iris Garden

April is the best time of year to catch this garden in a rainbow of blooms. Look closely, and you may notice a theme with the musical names of the specific species.

Native American Crops

This space features the traditional stepped crop planting technique used by Native Americans. It is laid out with tall crops at the highest point, to onions, beans and sunflowers at the lowest points. Natural rainfall helps to water crops and the steps keep water contained in the lower areas.

Permaculture Garden

A demonstration of water-wise gardening techniques that harvest rainwater naturally, placing plants in ideal areas from most to least water needs.

Plants of the Tohono O’odham Path

This garden path features plants from the Sonoran desert landscape and honors the relationship between native peoples and the plants that surround them.

Roberto Burle Marx Garden

This modernist garden space is inspired by Brazilian Landscape Architect, Roberto Burle Marx. His designs integrate water gardens, tropical gardens, and urban landscaping. Notice the juxtaposition of cement and metal structures and the colorful plants and waterfall installation.

The Great Garden Express

The Great Garden Express is a permanent model garden railway exhibit. Walk under elevated tracks and spot engines pulling passenger cars and freight through tunnels and over bridges; listen as the trains chug through the Arizona landscape and past beloved National Park landmarks. 

Sensory Ramadas

The Sensory Ramadas feature four themed garden areas: Succulent Ramada, Kitchen Ramada, Floral Ramada, and Woodland Ramada. Each of these unique spaces engages with the five senses in different ways. Take a moment to notice what you see, smell, hear, and feel.

Shade Garden

Large shade trees and shrubs make this garden area a unique space for growing plants in almost completely shaded areas. Lush green plants carpet the ground, climbing fines twist their way up the large trees, and in between are some rare and experimental plantings.

Word Garden

A different kind of garden space, featuring a small shaded area and stones with words etched into them. A peaceful space to write a poem, read what others have written, and a bench to sit and ponder or find inspiration.

Xeriscape Garden

Demonstrating a beautiful, lush, and low-water-use landscape, this area is a great place to get inspired for any Tucson backyard. Doubling as an event space and seating for Edna’s Eatery, this area includes a peaceful patio to sit and enjoy the shade of the mesquite and sounds of the wildlife.

Yocum Rock & Mineral Collection

Make sure to look at the rocks during your visit! Throughout the Gardens, pathways are lined with rock and mineral specimens, or incorporated into the planting design. Look out for some large and colorful boulders too.

Zen Garden

A non-traditional Zen garden that features multiple rock islands, small bonsai trees, and a large cascading mesquite tree. A small tabletop garden invites you to stop and take a moment to rake the sand into meditative patterns while immersed in this intimate, peaceful space.