The Rio Grande Botanic Garden (13 ha/32 acres) is a botanical garden and 900-square-meter (9,700 sq ft) conservatory located located at 2601 Central Avenue NW in Albuquerque, New Mexico, beside the Rio Grande and what is said to be the largest cottonwood gallery forest in the world. The botanical garden is a component of the Albuquerque Biological Park and contains a series of outdoor gardens which place an emphasis on plants locally found in the American Southwest.
Exhibits
The gardens contains a series of outdoor and indoor spaces:
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Spanish-Moorish Courtyard and Walled Gardens. These
outdoor gardens, located just inside the entrance, contains a
Spanish-Moorish themed garden displaying aromatic plants such as
rosemary, Spanish lavender, fig and pomegranate trees; a small,
round garden with a raised bed of cultivated roses called the
Jardin Redondo; and the Ceremonial Rose Garden which contains a
scenic trellis covered with wisteria and rambling roses.
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Mediterranean Conservatory. This large greenhouse
displays a variety of plants native to coastal areas with hot dry
summers and mild rainy winters, such as the Mediterranean, the
California coast,
southwestern Australia,
South Africa
and coastal Chile. rockroses,
bottlebrush trees, olive trees, myrtles, oleanders and numerous
mints and sages are displayed here. This conservatory is also the
locale for several flower shows, including Winter Fire Colors,
Bulbs in Bloom and the Orchid Show. In 2009, an exhibit on
arthropods was added as a preview for a future insectarium to be
built at the botanical gardens.
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Desert Conservatory. Located next to the Mediterranean
Conservatory, this second greenhouse simulates a dry climate and
displays a collection of plant life from deserts of the American
Southwest, such as saguaro cactus and palo verde trees from the
Sonoran Desert, creosote and yucca from the Chihuahuan Desert, and
elephant trees from Baja.
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Curandera Garden. This is a traditional herb garden
based on the practices of Curanderos, or Spanish folk
doctors, who have a long history of herbal medicine in New Mexico.
The garden also contains a bas relief sculpture by Diego "Sonny"
Rivera depicting a Curandero.
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Camino de Colores. This garden is divided into four
area, each themed to one of the four seasons, with plants chosen to
represent each season's colors year-round. This garden also
contains a water feature in the winter garden, and large rose
planters.
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Sasebo Japanese Garden. A classically designed Japanese
Garden, containing Japanese architecture and design elements such
as the tile-capped garden wall and tile-roofed entry gate, an
elevated bell tower, stone lanterns and pagoda sculptures, a
ceremonial hand-wash basin, a waterfall, koi pond, a
arched-moon bridge, and a viewing deck. The plant palette includes
both traditional Japanese and American Southwest plantings.
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Heritage Farm. A re-creation of a 1930s era
Albuquerque-area farm, containing a kitchen garden, crops, an
orchard, vineyard and berry bushes, as well as replicas of a
farmhouse, a barn, and a stables. Demonstrations take place in the
farmhouse, and farm animals such as cows, goats, sheep, and horses
live at the stables. This garden won the 2007 American Public
Gardens Association award for excellence in programming and was
invited to place an exhibit at the U.S. Botanic Garden in
Washington, D.C. from May through October 9, 2007.
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PNM Butterfly Pavilion. An indoor butterfly house,
open seasonally.
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"Garden" Railroad. An outdoor model railroad
layout.
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Children's Fantasy Garden. A fourteen-foot high
dragon stands at the
entrance of the Fantasy Garden that gives visitors a mite's eye
perspective on the garden. Giant bugs, gardening tools, and huge
pretend vegetables tower over visitors to this garden. A
walk-through "pumpkin" 42 feet
(13 m) in diameter and two stories high is the centerpiece of
this garden.
Plant
Collection
Collections include Achillea filipendulina, Abelia
grandiflora, Acanthus mollis, Althaea rosea,
Anacyclus depressus, Anigozanthos flavidus,
Aquilegia chrysantha, Asclepias speciosa,
Berlandiera lyrata, Bougainvillea glabra, Buddleia
davidii, Buddleia marrubifolia, Calliandra
california, Callirhoe involucrate, Callistemon
citrinus, Calylophus hartwegii, Calylophus
serrulatus, Campsis radicans, Carissa
grandiflora, Carnegia gigantea Carpenteria
californica, Caryopteris clandonensis, Centranthus
ruber, Cerastium tomentosum, Chilopsis linearis,
Chitalpa tashkentensis, Chrysactinia mexicana,
Cistus ladanifer, Cistus salviifolius, Cistus ×
purpureus, Clematis sp.,
Cleome serrulata, Coreopsis grandiflora, Dasiphora
floribunda, Datura wrightii, Dietes grandiflora,
Dipsacus fullonum, Echium fastuosum, Fouquieria
columnaris, Fouquieria splendens, Gaillardia
grandiflora, Galvezia speciosa, Gaura lindheimeri,
Geranium sp.,
Glandularia gooddingii, Gossypium harknessii,
Hemerocallis sp., Hesperaloe parviflora,
Heterocentron elegans, Hymenoxys acaulis,
Hypericum calycinum, Ipomoea fistulosa, Jasminum
odoratissimum, Justicia californica, Kniphofia
uvaria, Lavandula 'Munstead', Leonotis leonurus,
Leucanthemum vulgare, Leucophyllum candidum 'Thunder
cloud', Leucophyllum langmaniae 'Rio Bravo', Lobelia laxiflora,
Lonicera japonica 'Halliana', Lonicera sempervirens,
Melaleuca elliptica, Nandina domestica, Nepeta ×
faassenii, Nerium oleander, Oenothera
missouriensis, Oenothera speciosa, Olea
europaea, Penstemon barbatus, Penstemon
pinifolius, Penstemon pseudospectabilis, Philadelphus
sp., Phlomis cashmeriana, Phlomis fruticosa,
Phlomis russeliana, Phygelius capensis, Plumbago
auriculata, Plumbago
scandens, Punica granatum, Ratibida columnifera,
Rosa sp., Salvia
greggii, Salvia repens, Sambucus mexicana,
Sapindus drummondii, Spiraea bumalda 'Anthony
Waterer' & 'Goldflame', Stachys lanata, Tecoma 'Orange
Jubilee', Tulbaghia fragrans, Yucca brevifolia, and
Yucca
linearifolia.
External
links