Desert Botanical Garden Quiz: Phoenix Cacti and Succulents

This Desert Botanical Garden quiz follows the trails of Phoenix's desert plant showcase in Papago Park, Arizona. Play 10 interactive questions on its 1930s founding, Gertrude Webster, the Sonoran Desert, saguaros and agaves, the boojum tree, the ocotillo, Chihuly glass exhibits, the luminaria holiday walk and its butterfly pavilion.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

City
Which city is the Desert Botanical Garden in?
Opened
When did the garden open to the public?
Founder
Which supporter helped found the garden?
Desert
Which desert surrounds Phoenix?
Agave
Which plant often flowers once and then dies?
Boojum
Which strange tree is named after a Lewis Carroll creature?
Ocotillo
What does an ocotillo do after rain?
Glass
Which artist's glass sculptures have been shown among the cacti?
Lights
Which holiday event fills paths with paper lanterns?
Butterflies
What can visitors walk through in spring?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which city is the Desert Botanical Garden in?
Answer: Phoenix
It sits in Papago Park.
Q2: When did the garden open to the public?
Answer: 1939
It was founded in the late 1930s.
Q3: Which supporter helped found the garden?
Answer: Gertrude Webster
She worked with botanist Gustaf Starck.
Q4: Which desert surrounds Phoenix?
Answer: Sonoran Desert
It gets summer monsoon rains.
Q5: Which plant often flowers once and then dies?
Answer: Agave
It is nicknamed the century plant.
Q6: Which strange tree is named after a Lewis Carroll creature?
Answer: Boojum tree
It looks like an upside-down carrot.
Q7: What does an ocotillo do after rain?
Answer: Grows leaves quickly
It drops them again when dry.
Q8: Which artist's glass sculptures have been shown among the cacti?
Answer: Dale Chihuly
His colorful works echo plant shapes.
Q9: Which holiday event fills paths with paper lanterns?
Answer: Las Noches de las Luminarias
Thousands of bags glow with candles.
Q10: What can visitors walk through in spring?
Answer: A butterfly pavilion
Native butterflies fly freely.

Cacti, Succulents and Chihuly Glass in Papago Park

The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, opened in 1939 in Papago Park among red sandstone buttes. Founded by botanist Gustaf Starck with supporter Gertrude Webster, it set out to protect and celebrate desert plants at a time when many people saw the desert as empty land.

Today its trails display tens of thousands of plants from the Sonoran Desert and deserts around the world. Saguaros and agaves, which often flower once and then die, grow beside the boojum tree, shaped like an upside-down carrot, and the ocotillo, which sprouts leaves quickly after rain.

The garden has hosted Dale Chihuly glass exhibitions whose colorful forms echo cactus shapes. In December, Las Noches de las Luminarias lights the paths with thousands of paper lanterns, and in spring visitors walk among native butterflies in a pavilion.

What This Quiz Teaches

Plant fans will enjoy these questions.

When the garden opened
Who founded it
Which plants grow there
Which art it shows
Which events it hosts

Did You Know?

Spring wildflowers bloom after good winter rains.
Hummingbirds visit desert flowers year-round.
Some trails show how desert people used plants.
Summer visits are best early in the morning.
Seed banks help protect rare desert plants.