Launched in 1939 by engineer-socialite odd couple Gustaf Starck and Gertrude Divine Webster to preserve and celebrate desert flora, Desert Botanical Garden has since blossomed into a 150-acre living museum housing more than 50,000 plants. Hosting landmark events throughout the year, including Las Noches de las Luminarias, Devour Culinary Classic and its highly anticipated spring plant sale, it’s a true Valley institution and – not coincidentally – the all-time BOV alpha, amassing more than 30 Readers’ Picks awards between the Best Place to Take Visitors and Best Place to See a Saguaro categories since 2003. “When people come to the desert, it’s exotic to most people who don’t live here. You can only see a saguaro in the Sonoran Desert,” says DBG’s chief experience officer Elaine McGinn, who oversees its exhibits, marketing, membership and guest services. When McGinn joined the team in 1997, annual attendance was about 150,000. “Now it’s up to 600,000,” she says. “And years when we have a big blockbuster like the Dale Chihuly show, it can go to up to 800,000.”

McGinn emphasizes DBG’s commitment to the research and conservation of desert flora. “It’s about beauty, but it’s also about education,” she says. The garden’s reputation extends far beyond Arizona. “I’ve been in Italy, and people will say, ‘Oh, what do you do?’ and I tell them, and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I love that place!’” she says. “It always just kind of stuns me. But then I have such pride… We really are here for the community, so to have that come back is such an honor.” dbg.org