How Desert Botanical Garden is Helping Saguaros Under a Hotter Climate

August 10, 2023

Meet the next generation of saguaros. In a small square pot, 100 black seeds are scattered across a sandy bed. Several of them have already sprouted into seedlings. The seedlings are only a few millimeters in size, resembling green jelly beans with a spiky head. The...

Plant Care Tips During Extreme Heat Wave

August 10, 2023

Consistent weeks of record-breaking high temperatures is stressful for many plants. Despite best efforts to keep plants alive, many will begin to see symptoms of heat and drought stress. Leaves, fruit, flowers, bark, wood and roots may be damaged. Different plant...

Saguaros Under Stress

April 28, 2023

Saguaros are Arizona’s unique icons however, their ubiquitous presence in urban landscapes might be at risk. In recent years, there’s been increased reports of fallen or ill saguaros across the Phoenix metro area. Although the ultimate causes might not yet be...

Care and Keeping of Saguaros

April 22, 2022

Do you have a saguaro in your yard? Want to learn how to care for them? Here are some helpful tips to make sure your saguaro survives during hot summers. The saguaro cactus is a desert plant that doesn’t need to be connected to drip irrigation. However, they do...

Is Saguaro Cactus Fruit Edible?

July 7, 2021

Photo by Michael Searcy Ripening in the hottest, driest time of the year, saguaro fruit provide important moisture and nutrition to animals and insects in the Sonoran Desert before the summer monsoon rains. With each saguaro able to produce an average of 150 fruit,...