| Fall Foliage Finale by Kimberly Hosey for The Arizona Republic Arboretum bursts with splendors of the season |
| Mike Morse first notices Picketpost Mountain as he enters Boyce Thompson Arboretum in early October. The purple buttes jut toward the azure sky, softened by layers of saguaro cactuses, emerald green trees and grass in the foreground. Nearby, a Monarch butterfly alights on a brittlebush blossom, flexing its orange and black wings.
�It's gorgeous, absolutely beautiful,� he says, as his daughter tugs on his T-shirt, eager to chase butterflies. �This is the first time here, and I might end up with the membership.� Ahead on the trail, Morse and his family, of Tempe, watch the light break through the tapered leaves of the Chinese pistachio trees. Golden barrel cactuses guide them down the main trail, where more butterflies � bright yellows, iridescent blues, pure whites � chase one another among the flowers, swirl-dancing in the breeze. A crisp breeze brings musky-floral-woody scents, a preview of what awaits inside. And it�s going to get better. Morse says he may take his family back this month. If so, they�re in for a treat. Boyce Thompson Arboretum, one hour east of Phoenix, offers stunning color the last two weeks of November into the first week of December � their singular �fall foliage finale,� about a month after branches in higher elevations forests are bare. Peak color at the arboretum varies each year, but optimal weeks should be about Nov. 20 through Dec. 5. |
| Patty Guiles, of Atlanta, says she didn�t realize there would be an autumn in Arizona. But she�s learning, and she�s loving it.
�This place is a treasure, and plants are so much a part of us and people just don�t realize it,� she says, stopping to inspect a hedgehog cactus veiled by a gossamer spider web. �It really invites you to slow down. You take it all in, whether you really intend to or not.� Guiles enters the Smith Interpretive Center and is bombarded with birdcalls - soft coos; rapid, fluctuating buzzing; staccato �huit huit huit.� A sign invites listeners to identify the calls. She puzzles out the sounds: mourning dove, cactus wren and flycatcher, respectively. The crunch of leaves underfoot, live music, apple cider and storytellers have attracted many people to the arboretum, says David Oberpriller, of Mesa, an arboretum member for 20 years and a volunteer guide for the popular �Plants of the Bible� tour. �Some people from up north may not realize we have this out here,� Oberpriller says, �and for Arizona, it�s just spectacular. People come to Arizona and say, �You don�t have four seasons.� It�s not really true." |
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| Weekend Living lead story, Nov. 18, 2005, The Arizona Repulblic |
| Fall foliage finale caption, Boyce Thompson Arboretum Photos by Kimberly Hosey |