Desert Botanical Garden

Spent most of the afternoon at the Desert Botanical Garden, one of my favorite places.

The had a butterfly pavilion featuring hundreds of gorgeous, and very much alive, butterflies.

Tons of stuff in bloom: cacti, aloe, yucca, poppies, sage, and others too numerous to list. The sacred datura had plenty of buds, but no flowers.

There were a lot of people at the garden today, but almost all of them were on the paved paths close to the buildings.

Once I got out onto the more remote, unpaved paths, I was practically alone.

Saw doves, hummingbirds, cacus wrens, and many other birds.

Saw a roadrunner.

Saw jack rabbits, ground squirrels, and lizards (spiny and whiptail).