Desert Botanical Garden

Desert Botanical Garden was founded in 1939 by a group of individuals who were concerned about Phoenix’s rapid development and felt the need to protect and preserve a portion of the native desert. The focus over the first 30 years was on collecting, caring for, and propagating plant specimens to establish an outstanding collection of living cacti and succulents. In 1971, the Garden invested in scientific research by adding to its staff Dr. Howard Scott Gentry, a world renowned scholar of agaves. The Garden has since established itself as a world leader in understanding and conserving the desert’s unique plant life.