My good friend Julie is a patron of the Desert Botanical Garden and she invited me to attend a special brunch and behind the scenes tour of the garden with her on Saturday morning. One of the stops was in the Herbarium where they have stored dried samples of thousands of plants native to the southwest and other arid climate areas.
We got to meet Wendy Hodgson, Senior Research Botanist who has worked at the garden for over 40 years. She's holding a sample of a plant she discovered years ago and has since been named after her. The tour was a fantastic source of information about a place I visit so very often. We even got to see the new research facility that is under construction and we learned how mapping experts map not only the plants in the garden but, all the facilities, lights and underground utilities that service the garden. It was a fascinating morning adventure.
9 comments:
This behind the scenes tour sounds like great fun. And with your interest in the Botanical Garden, it must have been especially exciting! It takes lots of people with a variety of skills to keep the place going!
Cool! As much as you go there it must have been fascinating to look behind the scenes. It will probably change how you see things now -- you'll have a deeper sense of all the infrastructure required to support the gardens!
I bet there is a lot going on behind the scenes at a place like that. Sounds like an interesting morning for you.
If I lived in Phoenix again, I'd definitely join the museum.
It must be cool to have a plant named after you! I think I would enjoy a tour like that, Sharon!
now that was a privileged tour!
I'd enjoy getting behind the scenes like that!
Oh you were so lucky Sharon, what a super way to spend the morning, especially for someone who loves the botanic gardens.
What an excellent tour. 40 years? In today's world, that is remarkable, and what she does must be very rewarding.
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