FOR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN
PHOENIX ARIZONA DECEMBER 2015 VOLUME 69 NO. 4
Desert Journal
Year-end Giving
The Garden is a healthy and vibrant cultural institution Education, research, conservation, and exhibition of desert plants comprise the core mission areas.
The Garden is a private, not-for-profit organization
The Garden depends on you
The Garden is mission-driven
Board of Trustees
2
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
The Sonoran Quarterly
Contents Articles 4 6 8 10
12
Features 2
Garden News 17
In Appreciation 18 On the Cover
Back Cover
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
3
Taking action for
Starting Small, Growing Big
Help Rebuild Monarch Populations
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
5
Delighted by
PLANT DONATIONS Being the assistant director of horticulture at the Desert Botanical Garden often requires me to take on a number of unique and unusual roles. One of those roles is that of handling donations of small, large, and ridiculously large plants for the Garden’s collection.
How do We Decide What to Accept?
Placing Donated Specimen Plants to the Best Effect
6
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
7
Meet These
VOLUNTEERS
Research Volunteers Church and Dehn
Freelance Volunteer Trelease
Special Projects Volunteer Earle
Listen and Organize Volunteer Fisher
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
9
Gifts confirmed as of October 1, 2015
The Saguaro Initiative
Celebrate the Past. Shape the Future. Why The Happy Dance?
Ardie and Steve Evans, Chairs of the TSI Cabinet, are very good with numbers–and the numbers are good.
A LIFETIME of STRONG FAMILY VALUES and
GENEROSITY
Betty and Sam Kitchell arrived in Phoenix in 1948 with three children under the age of three, their abundant curiosity, adventurous spirits, and, in Betty’s words, “no money and no jobs.”
10
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
When family members gathered at Betty’s home for a portrait this past August, they talked about how the Garden has become a vibrant community gathering place that is– happily–no longer “the best kept secret in town.” Betty expressed the Kitchell family’s joy in being able to support the Garden’s vision and Ann noted that they look forward to even greater and more memorable experiences for visitors in the years ahead.
The Sam and Betty Kitchell Family Heritage Garden is now open to visitors. Guests at this season’s Las Noches de las Luminarias will get their first views of the renovated historic space at night. To fully appreciate the experience, we invite you to plan a leisurely visit during the daytime.
The Saguaro Initiative at a Glance
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
11
Desert Botanical Garden’s Herbarium Collections are Critical to Biodiversity Study
Pressed and dried between two pieces of paper and then mounted with a gummy adhesive to a piece of cardboard, these plant specimens represented a revolution. Ghini pioneered this simple method of preserving plants for study, which has not been surpassed in more than 450 years. He then gathered his plant specimens and created the world’s first herbarium. It, like all the herbaria to follow, was a collection of preserved plants as rich in information and priceless in value as any library.
12
What’s the Connection between Biodiversity and Dried Plants?
Tracking Change Across the Landscape and Across Time
13
Going Digital on SEINet—a Powerful Tool
14
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
Contributing to Genetic Research, Too
Plant Knowledge: Important Then, Important Now
Name of plant Locality of plant Ecological data
Plant characteristics
Collector and collection number Date of collection
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
15
Did you know?
16
Dinner on the Desert 2016
Plans for Dinner on the Desert 2016, the Garden’s largest single-night fundraiser, are well underway by this year’s co-chairs Mary Heiss and Harold Dorenbecher, who is also a Garden trustee. It will be held on April 30, 2016, celebrating the 30th season of Dinner on the Desert.
Award of Merit Received for Outstanding Environmental Achievement
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
17
THE SAGUARO INITIATIVE Honor Roll of Supporters
Supporting Partner
$1,000,000-$1,999,999
$25,000-$49,999
$1,000-$4,999
$500,000-$749-999
$5,000 - $9,999
$250,000-$499,999
$5,000-$9,999
DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN MEMBER SUPPORT
$100-000-$249,999 $10,000-$24,999
$25,000 +
SONORAN CIRCLE $2,500 - $4,999
$75,000-$99,999
$50,000-$74,999
$10,000 - $24,999
18
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
DESERT COUNCIL
Memorial Gifts:
Ironwood ($2,500+) Palo Brea ($20,000+)
Annual Appeal & Donation Gifts
FOUNDATION, GOVERNMENT, & SOCIETY GIFTS Palo Verde ($10,000+)
HONOR & MEMORIAL GIFTS IN-KIND GIFTS
Mesquite ($5,000+)
Honor Gifts:
The Sonoran Quarterly WINTER 2015
19
SONORAN QUARTERLY | This magazine is available online at dbg.org/sqonline
The Desert Botanical Garden Mission
FREE WI-FI
WiFi Zone
Presented by
DESERT B OTANICAL GARDEN
TICKET PRICES
BRUCE MUNRO: SONORAN LIGHT at Desert Botanical Garden
EXHIBITION HOURS TO PURCHASE TICKETS
DATES / HOURS
TICKET PRICES
Visit dbg.org/munro