Tohono Chul (aka Tohono Chul Park ) is a botanical garden, nature reserve and cultural museum located in Casas Adobes, a suburb of Tucson, Arizona. The word "tohono chul" is translated as "desert corner" and borrowed from the Tohono O'odham language, a native of southern Arizona. Tohono Chul's mission is to enrich the lives of people by connecting them with the wonders of nature, art and culture in the Sonoran Desert region and inspiring the wise stewardship of the natural world.
The 49-hectare (19.8 ha) site itself offers a dramatic setting for Tohono Chul's regional focus. The magnificent view of the Santa Catalina Mountains forms the backdrop for the natural desert habitat and its location within the existing migration path provides a temporary home for many native wild fauna species. Thirty-eight bird species make their permanent homes here while the other 57 species of migrants visit seasonally, and various reptiles and mammals, from Gila monsters to Bobcats, can be seen on the land.
In this environment, Tohono Chul has developed a thematic display using a botanical collection that mainly consists of Sonoran original plants or Chihuahuan Deserts. They include over 150 species of shrubs and trees; 300 species of cactus and succulents; and 50 species of wildflowers. In addition, Tohono Chul has the largest private collection of Night-blooming Cereus - Peniocereus greggii - and every summer hosts "Bloom Night," one night predicted the largest cereus flowers will open..
Outdoor exhibits include:
- Ethnobotanical Garden - featuring native plants cultivated by Western natives for food, medicine and other necessities, and plants introduced by European settlers
- Riparian Habitat - replicates the river's natural river-side vegetation threatened in Arizona
- Geological Wall - the only one, it describes the geological history of the nearby Santa Catalina Mountains
- Saguaro Discovery Trail - iconic saguaro walk through its cultural connection to Tohono O'odham and its botanical connections to the natural history of the Sonoran Desert
- Sin Agua Garden - the former parking lot turned into a rainwater harvest demonstration
- Desert Living Courtyard - another parking lot is now a series of garden sketches in various design aesthetics that all promote Xeriscape and inspire homeowners to use native plants and plants adapted in the backyard landscape
- Sonoran Seasons Garden - a unique five seasons from the Arizona Highlands of Sonora Desert Highlands
- Desert palm Oasis - the original palm fan abode in this recreation an isolated mountain gorge found along the eastern shore of the Gulf of California
The Tohono Chul indoor exhibition of indoor art and culture transforms highly community-oriented, and features community groups and artists of all ages. The three exhibition halls allow a wide variety of exhibits, ranging from large group performances lasting several months to a smaller one-man exhibition that is on display for six to eight weeks. The focus may be on traditional or contemporary art, and includes paintings, sculptures and folk art, but the exhibition also addresses environmental issues affecting the Sonoran and Southwest Deserts. In addition, the choice of baskets, fiber art, sculptures, and paintings form the core of the Native American Collection artwork.
In 2008, Travel Leisure Magazine named Tohono Chul one of the Great Botanical Gardens of the World.
Video Tohono Chul Park
Before that Tohono Chul...
In the 1920s, the entire northwestern part of Tucson was considered ideal for growing oranges that were sensitive to ice and date palms. Maurice Reid owns the property from Orange Grove Road to Ina Road and grows it with a clump of orange trees. He introduced the black palm trees and grapefruit to the property that would become Tohono Chul Park. The orange tree groves remained even after Samuel W. Seaney split the area in 1931, calling it Catalina Citrus Estates.
Maurice Reid, acting as a broker for Seaney, sold Tohono Chul Park's future site to John T. deBlois Wack in 1937. Wack is an avid polo player from Santa Barbara and a friend of the Reverend George Ferguson, the newly consecrated pastor of St. Philip in the Foothills Episcopal Church. After an afternoon spent drinking mint juleps, Ferguson and Young Gene Reid (future names from Tucson's Reid Park Zoo) escort Wacks around the property. The Wacks buys a package of 80 acres (32.4 ha) for $ 16,000 - or $ 200 per are (0.4 ha).
Later that year, a Santa Fe-style house (Exhibition House today) was built on the property. During construction, adobe bricks for 18 "thick outer walls are made on site and Ponderosa pines are brought down a winding back ramp from Lemmon Mountain to be used for living room beams.
The Wacks actually spent a little time in Tucson. At the end of World War II, the house had been exchanged several times, until 1948, Colonel Robert Bagnell, an active member of the Tucson Red Cross and his wife Eugenia Sullivan Bagnell bought an 80-acre Wack pack. Lovingly called "Las Palmas" during the reign of Bagnell, the house was decorated with rose gardens and extensive lawns. Mrs Bagnell donated some of the property to the Catholic Diocese of Tucson to be the site of St. Catholic Church. Odilia, seen today in the north; and in 1963 the son of Ny. Bagnell, John Sullivan, built a ten-hectare house on the western edge of the property. Designed by Lewis Hall, renowned Tucson architect, Josias Joesler, this charming hacienda-style house features a traditional zaguan and fountains courtyard. Known as "West House," it is the site of the Tohono Chul Garden Bistro and La Fuente Museum Shop.
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It starts with a gift...
In 1966 Richard and Jean Wilson, began to unify the desert patch that would form the core of Tohono Chul, which eventually had 37 acres (15 ha) of original 80 hectares of Wack (32.4 ha). The son of a Texas oil expert, Richard Wilson is a geologist, trained at Yale and Stanford. Together with his wife, Jean, he came to Tucson in 1962 to teach at the University of Arizona.
In 1968, Wilsons bought a section containing the hacienda-style "West House" and stayed there for the next eight years. They never occupied Wack's house, but instead offered it to a nonprofit succession as a shelter or a youth residence. It was during the 1970s that the couple was approached several times by developers who wanted to buy land for commercial development. They always refused. Jean Wilson told them, "I do not want to sell the land, I do not want it cemented, I want to preserve it." In fact, when Pima County cursed a lane along the southern boundary of the property to expand Ina Street, Mr. Wilson demanded that they remove any saguaro and plant it back on their adjacent property.
In 1979 Jean Wilson opened the Haunted Bookstore on Northern Avenue along the eastern edge of the site. Upon waking and walking, Wilsons began planning his next project - a park. "At first we just came out and put lime to make a way and mark the names of some plants and bushes, but then start snowball." In 1980, they received a quote from the Tucson Audubon Community to rescue the desert greenspace and open it to the public. More motivated by the desire to preserve the Sonora Desert they liked, they set up a non-profit Foundation for Nature Conservation in the early 1980s.
- We want to keep something natural in the midst of all (surrounding) development so that people can come easily for a few hours and get out of traffic and learn something at the same time. This may conflict with what most people will do, but we feel it is very important for people to have something like this.
Over time, demonstration gardens and special collections planting native and almost-native plants, and arid-adapted added. The original adobe house of The Wacks in 1937 was carefully renovated in 1984 to provide space for changing art exhibitions, museum stores and administrative offices. Tohono Chul Park was officially ordained as a 37-hectare desert reserve on April 19, 1985. Wilsons submitted the property to the non-profit, Tohono Chul Park, Inc., in 1988. In the spring of 1995 an 11-acre (4.5 ha) packages bordering the property in the north were scheduled to dump high-density and offered for sale. With the help of the old member John Maher, Tohono Chul was able to acquire the property, setting up a memorial for the late wife of John, Mary. The latest addition took place when the beloved Ghost Bookstore closed in 1997. Wilsons donated land and buildings, thereby adding the final acre - then there were 49 (19.8 ha)!
Today, unfortunately, Richard and Jean Wilson are missing. However, their commitment to history and open space in the Southwest of life - in addition to the establishment of Tohono Chul, it is Wilsons who surrendered the family property in Hart Prairie (Flagstaff) and Muleshoe Ranch (Willcox) into the protective hands of The Nature Conservancy. At a dedication ceremony in 1985, Richard and Jean Wilson expressed their vision for Tohono Chul:
- We dedicate this park to those who come here, who, we hope, will not only admire and find comfort in the natural beauty of the area, but will achieve a greater appreciation of the ways of preserving all our precious desert territory and gain a better understanding of the natives of this region.
When you visit...
Tohono Chul has evolved into an urban desert island devoted to encouraging an appreciation of the typical character of the Sonoran Desert region. Sensitive planning and development has made it possible for facilities upgrades and improvements while maintaining spectacular natural settings and intimacy feelings despite growing rapidly beyond the borders. The original house on the property has a different southwestern style and promotes the feel of different places. Each has been refurbished and renovated for use by visitors and staff while retaining their character - Wack's home in 1937 is now the Exhibition House, hosting several gallery halls, the La Galeria Museum Shop and the administrative office; the 1963 Sullivan house ("The West House") is home to the Tohono Chul Garden Bistro, serving breakfast and lunch with an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients, and La Fuente Museum Store. The nearby La Entrada Greenhouse and Garden Shop were built to emulate the hacienda-style charm of the West House.
Jean Wilson's beloved Haunted bookshop is redesigned as the Desert Discovery Education center for the Tohono Chul educational program that confirms and equips gardens and exhibitions. In addition to daily guided tours by guides on the grounds, scheduled lectures, classes and workshops and travel opportunities are offered.
References
External links
- Tohono Chul - the official site
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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