This new exhibit, made possible by a generous Tending the Garden Campaign gift from Howard and Joy Berlin, will showcase the diversity of the agave and nolina families.

Local landscape architect Bob Thompson of e group led the exhibit team through hardscape and planting concepts and design. The 11,000 square foot exhibit, located south of the Sybil B. Harrington Succulent Gallery, will bring dramatic new elements to the Garden. A large Yucca filifera, which was salvaged as part of the Succulent Gallery construction a couple of years ago, welcomes visitors into the space as they step off the Desert Discovery Trail and onto Joy’s Overlook. A gently sloping walkway traverses the natural wash with views of massed agaves, and leads into the Yucca Forest—an immersion experience among giant yucca specimens.

Plantings throughout the exhibit highlight a variety of agave, yucca, and nolina. More than 1,000 plants will be installed in this exhibit, with over half coming from the Desert Botanical Garden’s collection currently in greenhouses.

Some of the plants being installed from our collection have never been on display before, such as the Hesperaloe tenuifolia. Others, like the Yucca endlichiana, have not been on display for at least 10 years. Two Yucca treculeana, which were grown from seed by our horticulture department, will also be displayed for the first time in this new exhibit.

We hope to see you in late November for the opening of this spectacular new exhibit.