The Desert Botanical Gardens glass agave exhibit at the garden entrance is especially beautiful at night
This week’s blog post features a Christmas treat. A tradition in the Phoenix area for 75 years, Los Noches De Las Luminarias at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens is featuring an anniversary special attraction this year.
The garden opened just before sunset the evening we visited
Coincidental to the annual Christmas celebration, the gardens are featuring glass sculptures by the renowned glass artist, Dale Chihuly. Throughout the gardens, his lighted sculptures provide a visual treat. Chihuly’s exhibit will be open through May 11, 2014. See the exhibit at night for best effect. See the gardens during the day to best view the microenvironment of native desert plant life. Los Noches concludes on December 31. Tickets sell out nightly, so be sure to order in advance to insure you can attend.
Hundreds of candle luminarias line the paths and sidewalks throughout the garden
Regular readers of this blog may remember a photo challenge a few weeks ago where I featured a couple of images from my collection taken at the gardens on November 30. I promised in that post to provide a more complete glimpse of that evening’s images. This collection is but a sample of the many sculptures in the garden. Take the time to explore the gardens yourself to see all of the featured sculptures. I submit for your holiday enjoyment a gallery of images from the magical evening we spent at Los Noches De Las Luminarias.
In one exhibit, a collection of beautiful crystal glass sparkled in the nearby glow of lavender shafts of illuminating glass spires
On a nearby hillside, a collection of lighted sculptures beckoned us
Lighted spires provide an eerie backlight for the collection of nearby saguaro
A Chihuly glass fireball illuminates the nearby organ pipe cactus
One of the Papago peaks and Camelback Mountain (right) provide the perfect background for a stroll through the gardens
For those who celebrate the Christmas holiday, Merry Christmas. Whatever your persuasion; I wish you Happy Holidays and a joyous and prosperous New Year.
John Steiner
Flare Legend Adventures
Beautiful! Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! it is cold cold here in Fargo!
Cold indeed. We are home (Fargo) for the holidays, looking forward to heading south again next week. All of our best wishes for the holidays to you and yours as well.
[…] an illuminated view, evening tickets are also available. Check out Journeys with Johnbo’s Las Noches De Las Luminarias for evening […]
Desert Botanical Garden was the first botanical garden that I ever went to outside of my home state of Texas. It’s probably my favorite garden for cacti and succulents.
Reblogged this on Flare Legend Adventures and commented:
In honor of the holiday season, I am pre-empting the usual Cellpic Sunday with a couple of holiday re-blogs. Spend the holiday season with us at Los Noches des Las Luminarias.
[…] an illuminated view, evening tickets are also available. Check out Journeys with Johnbo’s Las Noches De Las Luminarias for evening […]