Chihuly in the Desert - Phoenix

We knew we wanted to see the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and got to do that last week.

It was a terrific bright and sunny day to walk through the exhibits.  Dale Chihuly had some exhibits lighted in the evening, but we will have to save that for another time.  They were quite spectacular in the day time, more so in the evening we were told.

The Gardens were just the right size - not too big that it takes all day.  But there were enough side trails and exhibits to keep it interesting.  And it was the type of place that made you feel like you wanted to stroll through it and take it all in.  It was all very well done.

There were many separate trails

and some individual displays and as one would expect lots of desert plants with signs.

I love the beauty of the desert but often don't know what kind of cactus or plant I am looking at.

We caught it at a good time to see plenty of blooming plants.  It was really colorful!

And no surprise here - but there was a lot of cacti.  What surprised me was the many different varieties of the same kind, 

- like prickly pear cactus

- or barrel cactus

- or chollas

plus new things.

- Octopus cactus

And familiar plants

Yucca

Agave

The real bonus was all the Chihuly sculptures integrated into different landscapes and gardens.  

They were all around but one never got the feeling of it being too much...

Back near the entrance to the gardens a couple of distinct ones

We even saw a cactus sun dial. 

Unique and surprisingly accurate!

I can see why they have memberships and season tickets here -- one time through was definitely not enough time.  But it was worth it and a real highlight of our time in the area!