A garden’s path can take you anywhere.*

On a recent trip to Phoenix, I visited the Desert Botanical Garden or DBG for short. If you haven’t been, it’s an excellent botanical garden and a must-see destination in the Phoenix area.

It was Take Your Dog to the Garden Day and many visitors had one or more dogs with them. For me, dogs+plants=heaven so I enjoyed the many different dogs wagging their way through the DBG.

I have been fortunate to see the garden grow and change over time. Like all other living things, it’s always growing and the beauty and plant diversity amazes me on every visit. One of the exceptional parts of this visit was the butterfly pavilion, a large enclosed butterfly habitat. I am not going to lie, the list of rules posted at the entrance was a little sobering and the fact that you have to walk very carefully through the exhibit because the butterflies will land on the ground right in front of you made me nervous the whole time. But it was magical to be surrounded by these delicate and beautiful winged creatures. I must have had a look of complete awe on my face–one of the volunteers leaned over and said, “I am glad you got to see this.” Me, too–me, too.

Over time, the DBG has added artwork and raised beds providing layered and complex beauty to the garden. It’s hard not to see, feel and appreciate the beauty of the desert after a trip to the DBG.

When I am gone from this world, I hope the people who love me will think of me when they visit a garden.

*This is the sign that hung above the desk at my hotel in AZ, the newly built Hilton Garden Inn in Tempe. I decided it was a sign on multiple levels.