Greg and Irene, for Arid Land Botanical Garden:

Nature has always been an important part of my life. Exploring the forests behind our home in rural Pennsylvania and helping my parents and grandparents with their gardens are my favorite childhood memories. My first cactus (in a pot) was a gift received just before we moved across the country to Phoenix Arizona – and that cactus was promptly planted in our new front yard. Since that time, much of my spare time has been used to transform every yard of mine into a small version of the dream botanical garden we plan to create. Our collection of cacti, trees, and other desert plants has reached the point where we can see making that dream a reality. We currently have approximately 100 young trees of various sizes, an additional 800+ tree and shrub seedlings, 300+ cacti seedlings, and an extensive and varied collection of mature plants – all of these will be used for this project.

My wife and I will be partners on this project – we both have a strong desire to make this a reality. My wife Irene has a bachelor’s degree in project management and two associates’ degrees. She has successfully managed a number of large multi-million dollar projects for companies with which she has worked. I have a bachelor’s degree in business management, and over 30 years of management
experience in customer service departments with up to 130 employees. I also have over 40 years of plant growing and propagation experience. My earliest jobs were in landscaping, planting and maintaining shrubs, trees, and cacti of all varieties, including the majestic Saguaro. Trees I’ve grown are currently in use in municipalities’ landscape projects, in my neighbors’ yards, and in my current “mini”
botanical garden.

Here is the bottom line:

Creating a botanical garden requires space, and lots of it. We have located several commercial lots which range in size from 15 to 20 acres; any of these sites could make the Arid Land Botanical Garden a reality. Although we have many plants of all kinds, we need funds to purchase the land on which to plant them. Parcels of land in this size range are priced at $750,000 to $1,300,000, in the area in which we
plan to build the garden. All donations will go toward the cost of acquiring this property.

Make a difference:

We believe that this project will have a beneficial effect on the planets’ biosphere! We will create a place where people can learn about, interact with, and enjoy the natural beauty of a desert landscape. We will teach as many people as possible how to successfully grow plants in our extreme desert environment (without harming it in the process!). And the creation of this desert botanical garden will also help us achieve an important secondary goal: that of propagating endangered plants and returning them to their
natural habitats. My wife and I want to have a long-lasting positive impact on this “little blue dot” we all live upon…

By helping the Arid Land Desert Botanical Garden to create public awareness, teach gardening skills to our patrons, and provide a source for beneficial plants, you will participate in achieving that positive impact.

Risks & Challenges:

By far the largest expense in creating a botanical garden is the real estate. In order to display plants in a natural environment, and provide space for buildings, parking, as well as other exhibits, we need a space of approximately 15-20 acres. We have located several sites in that size range in locations which would work – we have limited our search to primarily to land that is already zoned for commercial use so that we would not have to go through the rezoning process, which could take years and add significantly to the startup costs.

Other Ways You Can Help:

Spread the word! We will be doing a lot of local advertising including roadside sandwich boards, door
hangers,flyers and promotion at local chambers of commerce. We also have a website and a number of
social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked In and YouTube). But we also believe in the
power of face-to-face communication, so please – forward our information to anyone you think will want
to help. Thanks for taking the time to read this!