The Pollinator Pathway Gardens

As a landscape designer and environmental educator for many years in the Pacific Northwest, one of Emily's 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. wildlife-friendly native plant garden to surround our home.   Likewise, her first dancehall project was designing a series of pollinator-friendly gardens for the 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 each garden area's ability to function as a place for public education on all types of sustainable gardening practices.  Planting was begun in the courtyard garden in the spring of 2021, and the mural and south garden areas were planted from 2022-2024.  Each is now a lush and vibrant oasis, filled with plants and pollinators of all kinds!

Because all wildlife have 4 basic needs: water, food, shelter, and nesting places, The Pollinator Gardens also provide bountiful habitat for songbirds, lizards, and more!   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 Gardens 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! 

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! 

Plantlist for the Arivaca Dancehall Pollinator Pathway Gardens

Each plant's common and botanical names are written on stainless steel stake-signs throughout each garden area, to make it easy for you to "browse" the beds for plants you may want to buy from a nursery and grow in your own garden!

Courtyard Garden:

      Common name (Botanical name)

• Mexican Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana)

• Arizona Milkweed (Asclepias angustifolia)

• Gregg's Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii)

• Red Sage (Salvia greggii)

• Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucanthea 'Santa Barbara')

• White Sage (Salvia apiana)

• Texas Ranger (Leucophyllum frutescens)

• Compact White Bearded Iris (iris pumila/germanica hybrid)

• Soap Aloe (Aloe maculata)

• Spreading Fleabane (Erigeron divergens)

• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

• Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa)

• Carolina Ponyfoot (Dichondria carolinensis)+

• Rain Lily (Zephyranthes candida)

• Mexican Hat/Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera)

• Trumpet Vine* (Campsis radicans)

• Southwestern Coral Bean* (Erythrina flabelliformis)

• Golden Corydalis (Corydalis aurea)+

• Buffpetal (Rhynchosida physocalyx)+ 

• Scarlet Pimpernel (Lysimachia arvensis)+

• Yellow Woodsorrel (Oxalis dillenii)+

• Hoary Bowlsia (Bowlesia incana)+

• Thymeleaf Sandmat (Euphorbia serpillifolia)+

• Velvet Ash* (Fraxinus velutina)

• Crape Myrtle* (Lagerstroemia indica)

Monarch Mural Garden:

     Common name (Botanical name)

• Gregg's Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii)

• Arizona Milkweed (Asclepias angustifolia)

• Mexican Hat/Prairie Coneflower (Ratiba columnifera)

• California Fuchsia (Epilobum canum)

• Baja Fairy Duster (Calliandra californica)

• Blue Sage (Salvia chamaedryoides)

• Hackberry Penstemon (Penstemon subulatus)

• Arizona Rosewood (Vauquelinia californica)

• Chitalpa (Chitalpa tashkentensis)

• Turpentine Bush (Ericameria larcifolia)

• Desert Broom (Baccharis sarothroides)

Giant Arbor:

     Common name (Botanical name)

• Desert Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.)

South Garden:

• Gregg's Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii)

• Copper Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea angustifolia)+

• Arizona Milkweed (Asclepias angustifolia)

• Purple Sage (Salvia greggii)

• Sandpaper Verbena (Verbena rigida)

• Mt. Lemmon Marigold (Tagetes lemmonii)

• Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa tenuissima)

• Purple Bearded Iris (Iris germanica)

• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

• White Salvia perennial (Salvia farinacea)

• Blanket Flower (Gaillarida)

• Soaptree Yucca (Yucca elata)

• Artichoke Agave (Agave parryi)

• Palmer's Agave (Agave palmeri)

• Century Plant (Agave americana)

• Bear Grass (Xerophyllum tenax)

• Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa)

• Coffee Senna (Senna occidentalis)

• Red Sage (Salvia greggii)

• Santa Rita Prickly Pear (Opuntia santa-rita)

• Barbary Fig Prickly Pear (Optunia ficus-indica)

• Velvet Ash* (Fraxinus velutina)

• Velvet Mesquite* (Prosopis velutina)

• Prairie Sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris)+

• Thymeleaf Sandmat (Euphorbia serpillifolia)+

• Tuberous Sida (Rhynchosida physocalyx)+

• Pepper Grass (Lepidium)+

• Corn Speedwell (Veronica arvensis)+

• Wild Mustard (Sisymbrium irio)+

Key:

+ = 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!