Botanic Garden

Opened in 1996, the Botanic Garden has grown to 32 acres of exhibits, and showcases plants from the American Southwest and around the world.

The Botanic Garden’s BUGarium is one of the most elaborate exhibits dedicated to bugs and arthropods in the country.

The Travel Channel cites ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden as one of the top 12 in the country!

Seasonal Update:

Learn more about featured seasonal plants!

Mission grape, featured 9/17/25: The vineyard at the Heritage Farm is looking lush! Rows of grapes, both table and wine, are ripening as summer comes to a close and fall harvest time approaches. The Heritage Farm grows seedless varieties of table grapes such as the blush red ‘Reliance’, the almost black ‘Glenora’, and the green ‘Himrod’, and more, as well as the traditional variety of wine grape of Vitis vinifera known as Mission grapes. While the species V. vinifera is native throughout the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, the variety known as Mission grape is so named because they were grown in Spanish missions and became the earliest vinifera variety to be cultivated in the Americas when it was brought over by Catholic missionaries to make sacramental wine in the 16th century. While they’ve thrived here ever since, they are now rare in Spain after a devastating spread of the grape pest phylloxera in the 19th century. Hybridization and grafting rootstock with naturally resistant North American grape species helped save European grapes from the epidemic.

Grape vines are high maintenance, needing the support of a climbing structure, regular pruning, and pest control, but they are drought-resistant and happily soak in the full sun. They will be most successful in well-drained sandy or fine sandy loam soils, and the fertility of the soil will affect the fruit yield, with average being the best as extremely fertile soil will cause the vines to grow excessively and delay the maturation of the crops. Grapes native to America will do better than Mission grapes in northern New Mexico and at higher elevations, and will also be more cold hardy. Grape vines can be incredibly long-lived when cared for properly, with one variety of V. vinifera in Slovenia confirmed to be over 450 years old still producing fruit as is a Mission grape vine at the Avila Adobe in California that is over 200 years old! You will want to keep your pet dog from eating the plants and fruit, but they can be well worth the investment if you’ve got the space and time to dedicate to their upkeep.

Sacred datura, featured 9/10/25: If you stroll through the newly reopened Cottonwood Gallery at the north end of the Heritage Farm at the right time of day, you can’t help but notice the large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers of the night-blooming Datura wrightii! This wildflower is commonly called sacred datura here, but the list of names for the other nine species in the genus Datura sound somewhat more daunting as they go on: thornapple (for its round, spiny fruit), mad apple, devil’s weed, devil’s trumpet, or hell’s bells. All of them are poisonous to humans and other animals, but they are a safe haven for hawkmoths, serving as a larval host and food source, and other nighttime pollinators. Bees love them, too! 

With showy blooms from summer to frost and sweet fragrance, sacred daturas are often planted as a water-wise ornamental in cottage, nighttime, pollinator, and rock themed gardens or naturalized areas. Like all desert natives, they need well-draining soil and sun even though the flowers close during the heat of the day. Due to the toxicity, take care in choosing a location that protects small children and pets from eating any part of it while allowing you to enjoy watching the evening pollinator activity. These “look, but don’t eat!” natural beauties can make an impressive addition to a landscape!

Desert willow, featured 9/3/25: Despite its common name, it's not a true willow from the genus Salix, in fact it’s the sole species in Chilopsis. The weeping form of its willow-like leaves inspired the second half of the nickname, but the “desert” half is true! Chilopsis linearis is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, including New Mexico. Its deep roots allow it to feed from the water table, making it highly drought tolerant as well as serving to prevent erosion. Desert willow grows as a shrub or small tree, potentially as tall as 30 feet. It provides shade and refuge to desert wildlife, its seeds feed birds, and its long and late blooming season into the fall provides a precious resource for fall-migrating hummingbirds. Add to that list the beauty and fragrance of the brilliant flowers in shades of pink, purple, or white and each one is like its own little oasis.

Right at home in our backyard, the desert willow is also accustomed to desert winters and can survive as low as 10º F. Happy in a variety of well-drained soils with minimal organic content, it actually needs to be allowed to dry out occasionally. A sunny location will ensure strong growth and abundant flowering, and in the first few years it typically grows up to three feet per year, providing shade, and beauty, quickly. This easy-to-grow, low maintenance desert gem makes a perfect water-conscious addition to your home garden, but one thing to be aware of: this native is right at home here and self-seeds easily, so keep an eye on saplings popping up where you may not want them. They can be easily relocated while young, or shared with your friends! You can also find many sterile cultivars that won't reproduce, so choose the best fit for your landscaping needs.

Strawflower, featured 8/27/25: Xerochrysum bracteatum is a native to Australia and Tasmania, also known as the golden everlasting or everlasting flower because although the plant itself is a shorter-lived annual, the dried flower heads retain their color and shape for years making them a popular choice for floral arrangements. In the wild, bright golden yellow or white flower heads of colored bracts with a straw or paper-like texture bloom profusely from spring to autumn in a variety of habitats from rainforest margins to deserts to subalpine areas, providing food to larvae and adult butterflies and moths, hoverflies, native bees, small beetles and grasshoppers! Since cultivation began in England and Germany in the late to middle 1800s, cultivars expanded the color palette to include shades of bronze, red, pink, and purples. 

With its tolerance for full sun and moderate drought resistance, strawflowers can be a bright addition to many types of gardens and containers here in New Mexico. It can thrive in moderately fertile soils in a wide variety of pH levels, as long as its well-drained and provided with medium moisture, occasionally allowed to dry. At an average height around 2-3 ft, it can beautifully complement a lower-lying or ground cover species in similar or contrasting colors as it floats above the foliage, as seen in the round fountain in the Jardín Redondo, where pollinators dance around the cultivar ‘Cottage toffee’, intermixed with yellow and orange lantana.