Special Events -- Most Are Included With Daily
Adult Admission of $7.50, or $3 for ages 5-12

Fall Plant Sale
Continues Daily Through October 26, daily, from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
 Autumn is harvest season; also the time to plant herbs and the right season to prepare your Spring flower garden. Stock up during this annual fundraiser which helps support botany education and conservation at Arizona's oldest and largest botanical garden. Scottsdale author Mary Irish will be a featured guest October 18 with a question-and-answer session starting at 10:00 a.m. And we have a tour with landscape expert Tom McDonald at 3:00 on October 25, and extended evening hours from 5:00 - 6:30 with steel drum music in our picnic ground. Invite family and friends, plan a picnic and experience the Arboretum after sunset! staff horticulturists and groundskeepers are available daily to answer your plant questions. For the complete list of events during our plant sale check out http://ag.arizona.edu/BTA/events/plantsale.html

Autumn Guided Bird Walks
October 18 and 26 from 8:30 - 11:00 a.m.; also November 1, 9, 15, 23
 We had a Black-and-White Warbler seen both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend, along with Townsend's and Black-throated Grays. Look for the Arboretum's one-of-a-kind hybrid hummingbird or watch autumnal migrants on a two-hour guided walk guided by Arizona Game & Fish Department's Troy Corman and Rich Ditch on October 18. Then "father-and-son birding team" Grant and Tyler Loomis lead the walk October 26 (along with Vera Walters). ASU Professor Pierre Deviche and Rich Ditch lead the walk November 1, Cynthia Donald and Pete Moulton (along with Troy Corman) November 9, Kathe Anderson November 15 and Marceline Vandewater November 23. Hybrid Hummingbird photos and recent bird checklists are linked on our bird walk page.

Gallery Exhibit -- Sharon Sieben Paintings
 Continues daily in our Visitor Center art gallery
 The October exhibit in our visitor center gallery features botanical paintings, "dia de los muertos" art and Arboretum scenes by Sharon Sieben of the Mesa Art League. Meet the artist on Sundays October 19 and 26 when she will be working on paintings in the visitor center gallery. Springerville artist and Arizona State Parks' site steward Maggie Leef has a photography exhibition in the gallery during November, and painter Paul Kinslow is our featured artist in December.

Plants of the Bible Guided Walk
 October 18 at 1:30 p.m.; tour repeats November 2 and 15, December 7 and 20
 Learn about botany, history and scripture on a slow-paced and relaxing walk down smooth and flat trails that are wheelchair-accessible. Arboretum volunteer David Oberpriller guides this tour on the third Saturday of each month; guest tourguides lead the "first-sunday-of-the-month" walk. Tour start time moves to 1:30 p.m. for the fall and winter season. Palms, figs and pomegranates are Plants of the Bible.

Trees of The Arboretum (new guided tour!)
 October 19 from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m., then on November. 16, December 21 and January 18, 2009
 "What's an Arboretum?" Learn the answer to that often-posed question on our new autumn tour through the forested areas of the Arboretum where you'll learn about the towering sycamore and cottonwood trees, native hackberry, mesquite and many more. Tour guide Russell Freeman is a Certified Arborist who manages Florence Farms Nursery. The University of Arizona Master Gardener also teaches arboriculture in the Pinal County Master Gardening program.

Butterfly Walk "Season Finale"
October 25, Saturday, from 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Learn about the ongoing monarch butterfly migration research project, and about the life cycles of these colorful insects on a guided 90-minute walk. Hundreds of butterflies were counted in the gardens this week -- join us and look for a variety of common species of butterflies as we explore the Demonstration Garden, Hummingbird-Butterfly Garden and other collections. See colorful photos as well, Read recent butterfly checklist reports

Steel Drum Band -- and Extended Hours
October 25, Saturday, from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
 On this final weekend of the annual Fall Plant Sale we stay open Saturday night until 6:30 p.m. -- and will have live music from an East Valley steel drum band in our picnic area. Bring a barbecue, invite family and friends to watch the sun set over the gardens, and plan an evening gathering in our picnic area. Read more about the Fall Plant Sale

Edible and Medicinal Desert Plants Guided Walk
 October 26, Sunday, at 1:30 p.m.; again November 8 and November 23
 Ethno-botanist Dave Morris guides this one-hour walk along our Curandero Trail explaining the ways that native desert plants have fed, clothed and healed indigenous peoples for millennia. Fall and Winter walks are at 1:30 p.m. Please note that this tour explores our Curandero Trail, which has
moderately steep sections and is not accessible by wheelchair. Read more about jojoba, creosote and prickly pears

Monarch Butterfly Tagging
October 15-17, October 18 and November 1
 Education Coordinator Chris Kline invites volunteers to help search for monarch butterflies – then capture, tag & release adults – during offsite research trips. Final trips of the season are to the Hualapai Mountains October 15-1, Perkinsville October 18 and Sonoita on November 1. To learn more about these research field trips, call Chris Kline at 520-689-2723 or email ckline@Ag.arizona.edu. Read more about our monarch butterfly migration research

Live Music Festival
Nov. 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Did you enjoy the occasional summer series of Saturday nights with music and extended evening hours? A few of the same performers (Lawrence Haack, the Mountain Rain Trio) will be showcased November 8 during a Saturday of live music "both acoustic and eclectic" featuring different performances each hour in various gardens and collections around the Arboretum. Jim Pipkin and the Close Enough String Band will also be featured! Revisit ag.arizona.edu/bta later this month to read the complete list of performers and concert times.

Advanced Birding Class
November 22 from 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.
 Arboretum bird walk leader Kathe Anderson concludes her advanced birding class series with this "second-of-two-parts" session on Nov. 22 from 8:30 to 11:30. "The Es and Fs" of basic birding are the focus today, and Kathe will explain how to seek out different habitats and environments when looking for particular birds. Enrollment for annual members is $20; arrange pre-payment with a call to our gift shop staff during daytime business hours at 520-689-2723

Fall Foliage Finale
November 29-30 from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
 Aspen and maple leaves have fallen in the San Francisco peaks and Catalinas by mid-November, but the true grand finale of autumn foliage in Arizona is right here at the Arboretum this month, with peak color typically during Thanksgiving weekend. Invite family and visiting guests for a picnic and to celebrate autumn color in our famous pistachio grove with spiced apple cider, live cedar flute music from Native American recording artist Joseph Leal, and other activities. Want proof of our breathtaking color? Check out the gallery of autumn images on our website! November gallery artist Maggie Leef will offer two Fall Color Photography Classes

Plein Air "Paint-Out"
November 29 and 30 from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
 Artists are invited to capture autumnal scenes during our annual Thanksgiving weekend Fall Foliage Finale Festival. Bring your dropcloth, brushes and easel. Glorious Autumn foliage is at peak around Thanksgiving at Boyce Thompson Arboretum; capture garden scenes on canvas alongside members of the Mesa Art League and Arizona Plein Air Painters.

Homeschool Day
December 3 from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.; then again Jan. 30, March 18, April 10
 Each school year we invite homeschool families to gather and experience Arboretum education programs. Dec. 3 participants are offered the "Plants of the Bible" tour starting at 10 a.m., then on Friday, Jan. 30 (2009) the "Arizona Tour" at 10:00 a.m. March 18 , 2009 (a Wednesday) is the "Trees" tour at 10:00 a.m. and the final Home School day will be April 10 (Friday) with "Plants of the Bible" tour at 10 a.m. Pre-payment is required, families are asked to reserve a spot no later than two weeks prior to each tour by calling 520-689-2723


2009 events -- 2009 events -- 2009 events
January 24 Australia Day in the eucalyptus grove
 February 13-16 "Language of Flowers" floral exhibit & chocolate tasting
February 28 World Desert Fair
 March 21 "Welcome Back Buzzards" day
 March (Dates To Be Announced) Spring Plant Sale
 March Wildflower Walks: at 12:00 noon March 4, 7, 11, 15, 18, 21, 25 and 29; also April 1, 4, 8 and 12

Focus on Insects "BioDive"
 March 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
 "BioDives" are a new program we'll offer this year for high school-age homeschool students. As a part of the activity we will conduct insect/wildflower surveys, study relationships between insect/wildflower groups, and give students experience recording data and using tools such as a GPS and digital camera. One session was offered October 10 ("focus on insects") and the second will be Friday March 27, 2009,
("focus on wildflowers"). To sign up call 520-689-2723.

 April 4 "Artists at the Arboretum"
April 11 Herb Festival
May 2 Dragonfly Walk
 May 9 International Migratory Bird Day
 May 23 Bio-Blitz
 May 9 Learn Your Lizards Guided Walk
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