Twenty gardens fill 5.5 acres here at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, in the heart of Tucson, Arizona. Here you can feel the pulse of the Sonoran Desert and a history layered in adobe and family life. The site was the longtime home of Rutger and Bernice Porter, who raised a family, ran a nursery, and participated fully in the life of Tucson when the town numbered about 35,000.
The earliest buildings on the grounds date to the 1920s, built of adobe bricks made on site; as the Porters grew, so did the house — three bedrooms, two baths and a sleeping porch surrounded by landscaped patios and gardens. Today those garden rooms include the Cactus and Succulent Garden, Barrio Garden, Children's Garden and Herb Garden among twenty distinctive spaces that show what thrives here. From October–May tropical butterflies from around the world appear in the Cox Butterfly and Orchid Pavilion.
You’ll also find rotating art displays, community classes, events and international exhibits. In 2025 TBG was selected number four in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice awards for Best Botanical Garden. Notice the adobe walls, the planted beds, and the paths that lead you through these living rooms of Tucson.