“Big Bugs” – Big Buzz!

Never imagined I’d look admiringly at a praying mantis, but psstt! that’s an old thought. It’s actually the first insect one sees on entering the Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale, Arizona where there’s a “Big Bugs” exhibition  on until Jan. 1, 2012. We all came away excited with these oversized, sometimes whimsical wood sculptures of insect predators, pollinators and beneficial critters set amongst desert plants. Crafted of wood, twigs, bark, saplings and other natural materials, the creatures weigh from 300 – 1,200 pounds and range from 7 to 25 ft. long. Daddy Long Legs was awesome, three giant ants clambering down the hill, even more awesome!

I’m saving the best for last and that is the garden itself, a jewel in the Sonoran Desert that sits on 145 acres. There are more than 50,000 plants from the Southwest. Never saw so many kinds of cactus. Cactus is quaint; Cactus is colorful; Cactus is really cool; long live Cactus!

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