24.02.13 DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN, PHOENIX AZ

 Desert Botanical Garden

The tall, light green things were glass! They were beautiful in the sunlight!

Baskets (Picture is Banana Yucca)

The Akimel O’odham weave cattail leaves, split reeds, cottonwood splints, devil’s claw and banana yucca roots to make baskets and mats.

The western Apache make large baskets from sumac, willow, cottonwood trees and other plants. Mesquite pit can be used for waterproofing.

People use the roots and stems of grasses to make brooms, hairbrushes, and baskets. They also use these plants as fuel and for thatching. People traditionally living in the desert often traveled to nearby grasslands to gather plants and hunt animals seasonally.

Akimel O’odham Household

Traditional Akimel O’odham households usually have more than one structure, each with a special function. The roundhouse (olas kih) provides privacy, shelter, storage space and a place to sleep. The kitchen (ko:sin), which has no roof, allows heat from cooking to dissipate quickly. The ramada (vatto) provides shade for outdoor activities.

Traditional Akimel O’odham Kitchen (Ko:sin)

The Akimel O’odham ko:sin has a low circular wall made of thatched arrowhead that acts as a wind block and provides shade. Mesquite trees are the preferred fuel source or cooking fires, but ironwood, palo verde and cottonwood trees are used as well.

The Roundhouse

Akimel O’odham Ramada (Vatto)

The vatto is the focus of many daily activities. This shaded shelter without walls is an ideal place to eat, sleep and cook food in the desert. Since airflow is unrestricted it stays much cooler than the real temperature.

The roof is made of thick layers of arrowweed branches and supported by mesquite poles. The rafters in the roof provide a cool place to store grain and other foods.

Mesquite Bosque

Densely packed mesquite trees provide large areas of shelter in this habitat. These bosques (Spanish for small forest), thrive near desert rivers or where their long roots can reach ground water.

The mesquite tree is one of the most important plants for people living in the Sonoran Desert. Providing food, shelter, medicine, fiber and dye, the mesquite is referred to as the tree of life.

Three Sisters Planting

For centuries many Native America communities have planted three particular crops together in a way that helps each one thrive and survive. Known as the Three Sisters, maize (corn), beans and squash create a balanced diet and they also help each other to grow. Tall corn acts as a pole for bean vines to climb, beans add nitrogen to the soil and large squash leaves create shade and protect all three plants from weeds.

There was a butterfly garden. 

Garden visitors often ask why Gambel's quail have those curious-looking plumes on their heads that are especially prominent on the males. Composed of six black, comma-shaped feathers that tightly overlap, you might guess that this topknot's function is to impress. The Sonoran desert is home to this distinctive bird.

These little quail with the plume at the top of their head are all over.

A sundial. I thought of Cashton because we tried to make one in the front yard while he was having school at our house.

There was a bee garden with lots of flowering plants.

The Palo Verde Tree

Why does the Palo Verde Tree have green bark? Photosynthesis is the process that plants use to make their own food. The green bark allows the palo verde tree to make its own food even when the leaves fall off. Plants are the only organisms that make their own food. All animals, including humans, obtain nutrients from plants or from animals that eat plants. Without plants, there would be no animal life on earth.

Agave Roasting Pit

For centuries, agave has been roasted for food and fibers in pits like this by people in the Sonoran Desert. Before roasting, the leaves are removed to expose the heart. Agave hearts are then sandwiched between layers of vegetation on top of hot coals and the hearts are bakes for up to four days. Almost all the agave plant can be cooked and eaten including the leaves, flowers, stalks, blossoms and seeds.

We had a great day! It was a lot of walking... 2 1/2 hours of walking! We had to park Max, the tank, at the  very back of the parking lot in the overflow parking too!