April 11, 2018

Desert Botanical Garden’s Patrons Circle Tour

Upper left: Carol Adams and Diane Rose. Lower left: Co-chairs Gena Bonsall and Connie Binns. Upper right: Bruce and Betsy Stodola. Lower right: Outdoor seating at Paradise Valley home

Desert Botanical Garden’s Patrons Circle hosted its Tour of Private Gardens on March 25. More than 200 Patrons Circle members and guests viewed four private home gardens in Paradise Valley and Arcadia. From a stagecoach stop to contemporary homes, the tour highlighted extraordinary landscapes, each vastly different in design, types of plantings and vegetation, and all with unique and artfully displayed specimens.

One home featured the custom-built artist studio of Chad Little, with the artist working during the tour. Another was an adobe structure built in the late 1800s that featured hand-painted ceramic tiles in the kitchen. On the wall, the original deed to the home from 1915 is posted. The landscape for a home in the Paradise Valley Country Club area had been completely renovated to remove grass and non-native plants. A variety of cacti now graces the property, and a large tee pee is inviting for entertaining. The last home on the tour provided refreshments for guests on the patio with a stellar view of the Four Peaks. The property includes a long walking path filled with mesquite trees and seating areas with wooden wing-backed chairs.

Gena Bonsall and Connie Bins co-chaired the tour.

Desert Botanical Garden Patrons Circle members make annual contributions from $1,500 to $25,000 to fund exhibitions, environmental education, conservation and research programs for the community.

PHOTOS COURTESY DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN