Our Ecosystem
The Arizona Uplands section of the Sonoran Desert, which includes most of the Tucson metro area, is truly spectacular. Botanist Raymond Turner called the Arizona Uplands “the best watered and least desert-like… in North America.” Turner preferred the term “thornscrub” rather then desert because of the great number of small-leaved overstory trees ranging from 6 to 24 feet high. Pioneer plant ecologist Forrest Shreve called the region a “stem succulent desert”, referring to the prominent role played by saguaro, ocotillo, other succulents common to the Arizona Uplands.
Our Climate
Arizona Uplands
Sunset climate zone 12
USDA cold 8b-9a / AHS heat 8