Lorraine,

I would like to recommend a place that I enjoy far, far more than
Arizona Botanical Gardens. My favorite place to visit is the "Boyce
Thompson Arboretum". There are many, many wonderful and different
species of plants. An old green house with many you may have never
seen before. Plan to be there at least a half-day, as there is a
wonderful, easy trail to walk on that takes you through many different
microclimates. You start out in the desert area, and hike down into a
small canyon with a stream. The temp changes are definitely noticed.
All kinds of old garden bulbs, iris, tulips, etc will probably be in
bloom down in the lower canyon. I can recommend a couple of sites
that will give you the scope of beauty here. First, Boyce Thompson
Arboretum web site:

http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/

Also, I found pictures of the tour a guy took of the gardens. Make
sure to click on the pictures in the frames, that takes you to some
more pictures that this person took of the gardens. You can see that
at this link:

http://www.gardenerscorner.com/BoyceThompson.html

I live in Casa Grande, and I try to make it there at least twice a
year. In September/October the gardens attract many, many species of
butterflies. A great experience seeing all the different butterflies.

Mary

On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 13:53:45 GMT, Lorraine Lawler
wrote:

My husband I will be in Phoenix visiting friends from February 6-13.
Our friends are new to the area so I'm looking for recommendations of
things to see/do for the four of us....interesting tourist areas,
public gardens, etc. Thanks in advance.