The Orchard Garden
The orchard garden was opened to the public on July 20, 2013. It is located on Museum Hill across the road from the entrance to the museums. It is not part of the New Mexico Museum System, but is operated as a non-profit organization. The majority of the people working in the gardens are volunteers. The focus of the garden is on plants selected for their beauty and adaptation to the Santa Fe environment. Some plants are local and some are not.
My wife, Susan and I became docents to the garden in January, 2014. We worked at the garden most Sunday afternoons in 2014 from February through November and on many Monday mornings in 2015. During both years I recorded the schedule of blooming of the various plants. Blooming in the Santa Fe area is usually from the end of February to the end of October with the majority of plants blooming in the spring and summer months.
Location Map of Orchard Garden Plants
Blooming Duration Chart - (A listing of when each plant bloomed during 2014)
The Blooming Schedule Table - (A listing of all of the plants that bloomed during 2014 & 2015)
Photos of Blooming Plants by Season - Spring (April 23 - June 22), Summer (June 21 - September 20)
Blooming Schedule by Color by Date
Alphabetic Listing of Plants
Ethnobotanicals in the Orchard Garden
Ethnobotany is the scientific study of the relationship between people and plants. New Mexico ethnobotany specifically involves the uses of plants by both the indigenous peoples and the early Spanish settlers in the state. Some of the plants utilized were growing here when the earliest people came to the area and others were brought by those settling at a later date whether they be native Americans or Europeans. Plants in this category are currently or have had various daily uses.
Ethnobotanicals can be categorized into several groups depending upon their uses.
The Santa Fe Botanical Garden at Museum Hill currently grows several of these plants. Below is a list of the plants that are grown and a description of how they were or are currently used as either Food, Wood & Tools, Weaving & Dying or Medical.