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!

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.

Vinca, featured 8/6/25: The plants in El Jardín de la Curandera, or the Curandera Garden, have uses ranging from herbs for cooking like rosemary to plants used for salves, oils, and teas. One plant blooming in the containers right now is a particularly heavy hitter – used in life-saving treatment of childhood leukemia! Catharanthus roseus is one of tens of thousands of unique and extraordinary species that developed in the isolated ecosystem of the island of Madagascar. That evolution included the alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine in C. roseus, commonly called vinca or sometimes Madagascar periwinkle, found in its leaves and discovered in Canada in the 1950s. Single or double-flowering hybrids and cultivars in colors ranging from white and peach tones to pinks and reds, sometimes multi-colored as well, make beautiful ornamental plants with a long flowering period and hardiness in dry and nutritionally-deficient conditions. 

Known to be low maintenance and easy to grow, vincas can do well in our hot and dry climate as an annual outside. Soil should be well-drained and not over-watered, and it may benefit from some shade in the hottest part of the day but will produce fewer flowers with too much shade. When mature, they can form a bush about 18 inches tall and up to around 24 inches wide. Whether you’re taking a break in the serene seating area in the Curandera Garden or admiring it in your own backyard, let the subtle strength and beauty of the vinca remind you of the magic of nature that lies hidden in the world all around us! Pictured: hybrid cultivar Soiree® Double Appleblossom