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Emily was a landscape designer and environmental educator for many years in the Pacific Northwest, and one of her specialties was wildlife-friendly gardening and the use of native plants. Upon our move to Arivaca in 2016, her first project was designing and building a 2000 sq. ft. home garden with those same principals. Likewise, her first dancehall project was designing a Pollinator Garden for the whole property, to benefit butterflies, bees, other beneficial insects, and hummingbirds. Since the dancehall also has hundreds of human visitors each year, her design included ensuring that it could function as a place for public education on sustainable gardening practices. Planting was begun in the central courtyard garden in the spring of 2021, and additional garden areas were planted throughout the back half of the property from 2022-2024. Now that many of the plants have reached their mature size, it is a lush and vibrant oasis, filled with pollinators of all kinds!
All wildlife have 4 basic needs: water, food, shelter, and nesting places, so the Pollinator Garden also provides bountiful habitat for many songbirds and lizards! Organic compost and mulch are used to build and maintain healthy soil throughout, and no pesticides of any kind are used (or needed).
We hope you will take time to stroll through the Pollinator Garden whenever you visit the dancehall for an event, and to also visit all the other public gardens in Arivaca that are part of the Pollinator Pathway Project!
Bees need the nectar and pollen from flowers in order to thrive, pollinate plants, and produce healthy offspring. These native bees are smaller than a grain of rice!
Butterflies like this Gulf Frittilary also need flower nectar, and need suitable plant leaves to lay their eggs so that their larvae (caterpillars) can thrive and go through metamorphosis to become adults.
Ladybugs, lacewings, soldier beetles, and other pest-eating beneficial insects also need flower nectar during mating and reproduction, to produce healthy offspring (like this Ladybug larvae) which then feast on pest insects!
Hummingbirds are plentiful year-round in the Arivaca area, especially when you have "trumpets and teacups" (tubular-shaped flowers) blooming in your garden!
Hummingbirds are plentiful year-round in the Arivaca area, especially when you have "trumpets and teacups" (tubular-shaped flowers) blooming in your garden!
The dancehall garden is registered with several environmental organizations whose work helps protect and conserve wildlife and their habitats: the Xerces Society, Endangered Species Coalition, and Bats Conservation International. Visit their websites for a wealth of great info on ways you can create healthy wildlife habitat in your garden too!
The dancehall garden is registered with several environmental organizations whose work helps protect and conserve wildlife and their habitats: the Xerces Society, Endangered Species Coalition, and Bats Conservation International. Visit their websites for a wealth of great info on ways you can create healthy wildlife habitat in your garden too!
Even when the dancehall garden was young, it was abuzz with pollinators, as well as birds and other wildlife!
Even when the dancehall garden was young, it was abuzz with pollinators, as well as birds and other wildlife!
In the summer of 2023, a beautiful three-sided mural was painted by Paul 'Nox' Pablo to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. It was funded by a generous grant from a consortium of 36 non-profit organizations called ESA@50, and is surrounded by the dancehall's pollinator pathway gardens!
In 2024, 'Nox' returned to paint a gorgeous mural on the back garden fence to celebrate moths, bats, and other nighttime pollinators, and the plants they need in order to thrive!
Click on this link for more information on the murals project.
Plantlist for the Arivaca Dancehall Pollinator Pathway Garden
Courtyard:
Arizona Milkweed (Asclepias angustifolia)
Sandpaper Verbena (Verbena rigida)
Gregg's Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii)
Scarlet Sage (Salvia coccinea)
Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucanthea 'Santa Barbara')
White Sage (Salvia apiana)
Texas Ranger (Leucophyllum frutescens)
Soap Aloe ( Aloe maculata)
Spreading Fleabane (Erigeron divergens)
Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata)
Golden Corydalis (Corydalis aurea)+
Tuberous Sida (Rhynchosida physocalyx)+
Scarlet Pimpernel (Lysimachia arvensis)+
Copper Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea angustifolia)+
Yellow Woodsorrel (Oxalis dillenii)+
Western tansymustard (Descurainia pinnata)+
Hoary Bowlsia (Bowlesia incana)+
Carolina Ponyfoot (Dichondria carolinensis)+
Tansylef Tansyaster (Machaeranthera tanacetfolia)+
Tree of heaven (Alianthus altissima)+
Trumpet Vine* (Campsis radicans)
Southwestern Coral Bean* (Erythrina flabelliformis)
Velvet Ash* (Fraxinus velutina)
Crape Myrtle* (Lagerstroemia indica)
Firepit and Beyond:
Arizona Milkweed (Asclepias angustifolia)
Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata)
Agastache
Arizona Rosewood (Vauquelinia californica)
Chitalpa (Chitalpa tashkentensis)
Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora)
Desert Honeysuckle (Lonicera)
Blue Sage (Salvia chamaedryoides)
Hackberry Penstemon (Penstemon subulatus)
Turpentine Bush (Ericameria larcifolia)
Desert Broom (Baccharis sarothroides)
Prairie Sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris)+
Copper Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea angustifolia)+
Thymeleaf Sandmat (Euphorbia serpillifolia)+
Tuberous Sida (Rhynchosida physocalyx)+
Pepper Grass (Lepidium)+
Corn Speedwell (Veronica arvensis)+
Wild Mustard (Sisymbrium irio)+
Artichoke Agave (Agave parryi)
Santa Rita Prickly Pear (Opuntia santa-rita)
Barbary Fig Prickly Pear (Optunia ficus-indica)
Velvet Ash* (Fraxinus velutina)
Velvet Mesquite* (Prosopis velutina)
+ = sprouted from seeds that were in the soil already
* = planted by Hack and Emma Mae Townsend sometime between 1943-1994
Click on this link for more information about the Arivaca Pollinator Pathway Project!
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