PHOENIX — If you have yet to visit the Desert Botanical Garden or have been itching to get there this year, Saturday is the day to go.
The desert attraction is offering $8 admission on Saturday, Feb. 16, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to celebrate 80 years since the garden's founding. Normally, admission is $13 to $25.
There will be free cupcakes, hands-on nature activities, a geocaching activity, and a 30-minute documentary about the garden's history shown throughout the morning and afternoon, according to a news release.
"As we commemorate 80 years as the state’s largest environmental learning center, the Garden has been preserving desert plants and focused on conserving desert plants for generations to come," said Director Ken Schutz in a statement. "We want to celebrate with the community and thank them for their 80 years of visiting and supporting the Garden.”
The Desert Botanical Garden opened in 1939.
It was founded by a group of citizens who wanted to protect the desert landscape, including Swedish botanist Gustaf Starck and Gertrude Devine Webster, a social influencer at the time. The garden's restaurant, Gertrude's, is named in honor of her.
Today, the 140-acre property is visited by more than 450,000 people a year, and has more than 55,000 plants in its collection, including 379 that are considered to be rare or endangered, according to numbers posted on its website.
The garden is located at 1201 N. Galvin Parkway in Phoenix, just down the way from the Phoenix Zoo.
