Host: No spring nor summer beauty have such grace as I have seen in one of the phase. Autumn is a special season in Arizona from the golden aspirins of the North Country to the flowering cactus of the dessert the whole state seems are washed with color. So on this November the wild life guide is leading us to the Fall Color Festival at Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior.
Male: Boyce Thompson Arboretum is just one of the most beautiful places in Arizona my wife and I were members of the Arboretum for years before I got on staff. So right near the town Superior which is about one hour drive do East of Phoenix or about two hours from Tucson and Fall is just one of the most glorious times of year out here. We have Fall Color, Fall Color that rabbles New England quite frankly and we have a wonderful event on Thanks Giving Weekend we do live music and we also have Fall Color we have painters that are painting and photographers who are capturing it out on the trails.
Host: The Arboretum is the oldest botanical garden in Arizona and its was also the largest. Developed along Queen Creek Canon its 320 archers and two miles of trails wind through a wide variety of landscapes and gardens.
Male: Were founded back in the 1920’s by a visionary man who named William Boyce Thompson who had the honorary title curdle through some work he did with the Red Cross. He founded this Arboretum to get people to appreciate to the importance of dessert plants and dessert echo systems and this was in heir when people thought of desserts as wastelands. And Colonel Thompson really helped and founded the Arboretum in order to get people to understand that people depend so much upon dessert plants and so many count that is all around the world.
So the Arboretum is involved to showcase plants from dessert echo systems all around the world we have Mediterranean dessert plants, South African, Australian, South American and East Asian. All in different collection so you really have the chance to get to know the worlds echo system the world aired line echo systems on a two hour walk around our trails.
Host: At one end of the Canon sits peak at Post House it was the Winter Home of Colonel Thompson during the time he lived at his beloved garden.
Male: Its 7,000 square feet and its just a stunning structure perched up on hill over looking Queen Creek after he died shortly after 1930 peak at those towers was bought and its been in private on our ship over since. Just this past year the state reacquired and its now part of the state again and ideally Arizona state parks will reopening at some in the next few years probably for tours and for the public to enjoy.
Host: The arboretum is not just single garden but a wide variety of smaller gardens grouped by tambour species which gives visitors plenty of beauty of beauty and wild life to enjoy.
Female: Just that there is so much to do, so many things to see. No matter what you—if you like nature you will love it here. there are things to discover, there is new things to learn when I came in I didn’t know anything about the local insects, the butterflies, the reptiles, anything like that and they have people that lead tours and tell you all about it and that’s what I like. I also like the solitude walking out here by myself enjoying nature, getting away from it all.
Male: What's wonderful about the arboretum is all four seasons there is something happening and something beautiful to see. In the fall we have wild life, we have lots of watch wild life during the month of September, October, November as we get into late fall and early winter there is autumn color with the pistachio trees, which turn just beautiful shades of red and gold and pumpkin orange. If you come out here in the winter there is winter color, you come out here in the spring you will begin to see the wild flowers and during summer we have the cactus blossoms there is always something.
Host: While walking the trails everybody seems to pause and aw of mister big, this immense red gum eucalyptus earned its name by growing eight feet in diameter and over 100 feet in height. It was planted as a sampling in 1926.
Male: And this is a great place for watching wild life, we do bird walks throughout the year, we have them in the fall and the spring guided bird walks which are led by some of the states experts. Were very lucky to volunteers, our people such as Troy Colman whose with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, who guide some of tours and is one of the states acknowledge experts in birds. Here is a chance for you to walk the trails with and expert like Troy and learn about different birds that are here during different seasons. Learn to identify them by their calls or by their field marks.
During the summer we have a tour series called Learn your Lizards which is a lot of fun, if you’ve got kids in particular it’s a blast to go walk in the trails and finding lizards and learning which ones we have and about some of their habits.
Host: Not surprisingly the garden is a virtual feast for photographers.
Male: That’s probably my favorite thing to do with photography is out door photography and this is just like I said a convenience spot to commoners a wide diversity and quite a few experts that you can pick their brains and learn what you're looking at.
Host: The area is so attractive to wild life that the staff was pleasantly surprised to see several wild turkey’s wondering the garden this fall. The birds would show up lately afternoon and one of the grounds keepers was able to get.
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