SUPERIOR — May is the month when Summer hours resume, daily through the end of September the Arboretum is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., with no entry after 2 p.m., so each day’s final visitors have one full hour to explore and enjoy the gardens and trails.
Hot temperatures bring new nature walks during summer months at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, including season debuts in May for the Learn Your Lizards guided walk May 6, and a butterfly walk on May 26.
May brings the birthday of Arboretum founder “Col.” William Boyce Thompson. His biography reports Thompson was born May 13, 1869 in Alder Gulch, Montana. At age, 11 his family moved to Butte as the town was experiencing a major mining boom, and by age 15 he was gambling for major stakes in local beer halls in the mining town. He attended public school but displayed little interest. Teachers characterized him as normal, healthy, well-intentioned but an underachiever, and the least promising of his high-spirited buddies. Thompson attended Columbia for a year, relocated to New York City to become a stock trader, and by 1906 had made his first million dollars. He began building a grand estate in Yonkers, New York and in 1912 bought the Magma Mine in Superior, eventually bringing him to Arizona. Learn more about the life and times of the Arboretum’s founder May 7 when Sylvia Lee offers her history lecture at 10 a.m. Confirm BTA weekend nature walks, dates and times at cals.arizona.edu/bta.
