Mesa Community College now home to state's first accredited arboretum

[TexasTowelie]

Mesa Community College marked Arbor Day last Friday by planting a salvaged mature native tree in what is now the state’s first arboretum accredited by the global ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program.

Located at MCC’s Southern and Dobson Campus, the 140-acre arboretum is home to thousands of plants from around the world, nearly 100 species of trees and over 80 species of cacti and succulents. The collection largely focuses on native and desert-adapted trees. Visitors can explore it free of charge between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. with the help of an interactive online map at mesacc.edu/arboretum.

All trees are inventoried in a database and labeled with small ID tags.

Peter Conden, chair of MCC Arboretum’s governing board and director of the MCC Sustainable Agriculture Program, said the accreditation culminates years of work by students and faculty from its Life Sciences and Landscape Horticulture Department.

Read more: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/mesa-community-college-now-home-to-state-s-first-accredited/article_3e584bac-4d5d-11e8-92f6-5b70650a888a.html

[royable]

1. There's also Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park in Superior, Arizona, 50 miles east of Mesa

on US Highway 60, if you want to get out of the city. It's accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, which, granted, isn't the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. It's a wonderful place. Like the MCC Arboretum, it has a wide variety of trees, shrubs, cacti and succulents from all over, and trails winding through the rugged desert landscape, by a lake and along a creek.

[ArizonaLib]

2. Good for kids too

There is a large picnic area for large gatherings and near the rose garden there is a special area for kids. When our kids were small it was an excellent little spot to have lunch. There is also a small historic house next to the herb garden which they still love to play in and great for taking pictures. Excellent half day trip from Phoenix area.