Mission Garden

This is a true gem sitting at the base of A-Mountain!!! I'm in town visiting (used to live in Tucson ages ago), and went to Mission Garden with my nephew (20 yr old). If you are a gardening or history nerd, and like to read, be prepared to spend ***hours***! 😊😊 or make frequent visits - it's FREE!!! There are pamphlet boxes at each garden space, with tons of laminated pages of information about each space, to read. There is a "Bookworm" path for kids, with "mail boxes" with books and activities at each garden. Since it is winter, there wasn't a lot growing in some of the gardens, but the orange trees were heavy with fruit, and there were plenty of other native plants to enjoy and learn about. We spoke with two lovely women who worked/volunteered there. Very friendly, informative, and eager to share their enthusiasm for this special place. Mission Garden has plants for sale near the entrance and said they have a presence at a nearby farmer's market. There is a "taste of the garden" happening the first Friday/Saturday of the month, and I encouraged my nephew to bring his mother. As a visitor, I encourage Tucsonians to support, and to help expand this space! It is truly unique, educational, and a wonderful resource!!

This garden is the oldest garden in Tucson, having had been cultivated over generations by various peoples, including indigenous, missionaries and Chinese. There are ponds that double as a fish's nursery for endangered minnows. My daughter is an intern here, but they do let the public to volunteer on Wednesday from 830 to 1030 am. Open to the public! 💗🌳🌷🌵 (I volunteered)

Small garden, but big enough to enjoy better than your own backyard. Couple gardens that planted specific vegetables from different countries. Was there during Chinese lunar new year. Good interaction place to learn about vegetation. Please donate.

Small and a little rumpled but in a very inviting way, Mission Garden is a living agricultural museum. The concept is fascinating. How did people survive in this climate? How did they grow their food, and what did they grow? There are themed walks and tours and classes, if you time your visit right. And you can support the project by plunking some cash in the donation box, or picking up some things in the small gift shop. There you find a smartly curated collection of things—books and seeds, produce and preserves made with items from the garden, and even native beans and wheat berries from the oldest variety in North America, which was all but obliterated in the 1940s. It’s located at the base of Sentinel Peak (also called A” Mountain) and at the historic epicenter of what became Tucson. And really, it’s fascinating and inspiring to see so many foods growing in a place that seems otherwise inhospitable. Definitely worth a visit.

A very beautiful garden with very knowledgeable volunteers. Truly a wonderful place to learn about the agricultural history of the area with the added benefit of being able to buy local seeds and produce from the garden!

Amazing garden spanning 4,000 years. Original natives and influences of those coming into the region.

Local and Native plants demonstrate regional agricultural history. These plants support our local birds and insects. Very nice gift shop with regional and native gifts and books.

A friend invited me to go to the Mission Garden today. Only 3.4 miles from my house, I had never been there. I was amazed to learn that archeologists have documented the site for 4,100 years of continuous cultivation. The Garden has thirteen different timeline plots that represent the cultures that have farmed the Tucson basin over time. The almost five acre site is filled with plants from Tucson's history. The Garden also offers docent tours, classes and workshops, art and craft fairs, bird watching tours, and seasonal events. I can't wait to return to see the Garden in it's different seasons.

Closed Sunday Monday Tuesday's today Sunday attending a beautiful celebration of life at historic ancestral land mission gardens . Mud Adobe walled large ancient garden recreated at the bottom of A mountain s of 22nd st off Grande on mission Ln approx 1/2 mile n of 22nd st . Many unique gardens representing diverse cultures , tribes , & eras of tucson history of agriculture on the banks of the Santa Cruz . I assume the garden is available to rent / use for a special event or occasion? Grateful to finally visit this garden to honor the tradition of a unique human .

We love to go to gardens when we are on vacation and really enjoyed the history of this garden. We happen to come during the Agave festival and it was super fun to be able to try the Agave . Be sure to look at hours before coming as they are limited. Wonderful experience and we learned a lot!

Beautiful garden, friendly staff, and wonderful little gift shop! This is a great place to take a stroll on a hot day in Tucson. Tree lined paths, bountiful blossoms, and often a nice assortment of produce grown on site. They also have good plant sales and a lovely little gift shop if you're looking for locally produced things like soap, herbs, spices, and plant books. It's a great place to learn about Tucson history, and fun for kids (ask about the scavenger hunt). It's also a wonderful venue for events! We had our wedding here last April and it was gorgeous. They have tables and chairs, lighting, and a sound system, but you have to bring in everything else. The staff were easy to work with and very communicative, and it was a special place to have a party under the stars. One of my favorite places in Tucson!

Stunning! Went to the garlic festival this last weekend and they have fruit trees, veggies, flowers and plants of all kind! The gift shop is really cute and it was inspiring seeing all they grow in the desert

All the many times I have been to Tucson this was the first time I have been to Mission Garden. We went for the Pomegranate Festival. While the gardens themselves are beautiful and pleasant to walkthrough the Pom Fest was lacking in a major way. I was unsure if the suggested $5 donation was per person or per group. We paid per person and found a per person donation to be overpriced for the event. They had many vendors like a farmers market, but there weren't many pomegranate type things. One pomegranate wine (which was sold out), and then a few different varieties of pom seeds. I was expecting to be able to sample or buy some different pomegranate foods, and sad when there wasn't anything to try besides the seeds. I do recommend the gardens to walkthrough if you are near them. They may not be worth driving out of the way for.

I attended their "citrus tasting" this morning and might go again tomorrow. It is indeed a gem of a garden--the love and commitment to the garden is apparent in the lush growth of the carefully tended plots. The plots are organized by ancestral and current immigrant cultures in pre and post colonial eras. Right now (February) there's still citrus on the trees which was a treat for me to see. It was one of those moments where you realize oranges are alive and well in nature before they become a pyramid in the grocery store.

Off the beaten path and quite interesting. Wander through the gardens to learn about Tucson's historic agricultural heritage.

Mission gardens is a total center to learn both history and plant life. We attended one of the Saturday free classes and the agriculture of the ancient people as well as modern gardening. Megan and Deandra were fantastic leaders of the class. Do visit the gardens when in Tucson!!!

This is a work in progress kind of place but definitely worth a visit. It's a place where they are growing foods from the various stages of those living in the Tucson area. It's easy to find, it's at the base of A mountain.

I loved that they sell cuttings of the fig tree. They also sell the fruit. It was really fun to see and I loved walking around it.

A hidden gem indeed. This garden holds Tucson's history. Must visit for locals and visitors.

This is such a hidden gem, and a quick detour from downtown. A beautiful walled heritage garden with some of the best plant events and sales in the city. Would highly recommend a visit.

This is a super cool project, mostly run by aging retiree's (not to be redundant). There is not a lot to visit here, the adobe walls are beautiful, the range of gardens are interesting and varied. There are some really beautiful pomegranate, and fig trees as well as some citrus. They are going to be putting in an education center and kitchen. I've only gone once for a fundraiser, they did a very nice job with the food, entertainment, and beverage service. I plant devote, and have spent oodles of time surrounded by and working with all aspects of flora and fauna. I will probably not be spending too much time here though. I want to love it, but I just don't, and I feel guilty about that. It took some pondering before I came up with reason why the adulation wasn't surging up from deep within my soul. I realize I'm not a gardener and this is a place for gardeners, so i can come in and chat but I am not going for a prolonged stay. If you are a gardener, you should go for it.

The Mission garden is definitely a hidden gem of Tucson. At the base of Sentinal Peak this historic garden tries to continue the gardening traditions of the native peoples of Tucson and the Spanish missionaries that settled here. The garden is free to enter, but a donation is much appreciated. They have a small orchard and tons of gardens if both native fruits and veggies and the plants the missionaries brought with them and cultivated. The volunteers are happy to discuss the plants with you and you might even learn a little about the history of Tucson!

While this is not an official botanical garden with perfectly manicured and placed species of trees, this is a working garden that feeds people, but also serves people by existing. Mission Garden is stunningly beautiful, and I might add that there is no better place to witness real, live history continuing and happening. It's free to enter the garden at the base of A Mountain (sometimes referred to as Sentinel Peak). Once you walk in you are transported to centuries-old Tucson. If you are lucky (and you probably will be that day) there will be a selection of veggies or fruit for sale at extremely reasonable prices. If you are interested in seeing where your fruit or veggies are grown just take a meander down some of the garden paths and stumble into the fruit orchards. There are people volunteering and working here who are filled with knowledge: gardening, history, and Tucson knowledge. This is also a place where people can volunteer to help! Mission Garden is truly beautiful and spectacular, and I plan to make this a regular place to drop by for a relaxing moment or pick up some very fresh nourishment.

I love what they are doing here. It is "a re-creation of the Spanish Colonial walled garden that was part of Tucson's historic San Agustin Mission" It is really interesting and inspiring to see what has grown historically in this climate/ this city specifically and draw inspiration from that for my own landscaping project. I really enjoyed the tour and learned not only what the plants were but why/when they were grown and the uses for them. I think of it as kind of a museum of Tucson's plant and agricultural history as well as a classroom.

Refreshing to see our community come together to not only grow a native garden, but to nurture, feed, educate and grow a community! It's a must to not only support this Garden with either time, money, or purchase (fresh fruit and veggies) , but to trully embrace the ideal of growing sustainable food. This is a fantastic project!