Tucson Botanical Gardens at 2150 North Alvernon: The 5.5-Acre Midtown Oasis Where the Butterfly Pavilion Closes May 31, Dog Days of Summer Starts June 1, and the Last Cool-Season Window Wraps Up This Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend, May 23 to 25, 2026, is the last full weekend of the cool-season program at the Tucson Botanical Gardens — the 5.5-acre midtown urban oasis at 2150 North Alvernon Way that began with horticulturist Harrison Yocum's 1964 collection, was chartered as a nonprofit in 1969, and moved to the Porter family's North Alvernon home in 1974 after the Tucson City Council passed Resolution 9384 dedicating the property as a public garden. The Cox Butterfly & Orchid Pavilion — the tropical greenhouse that has anchored cool-season programming for more than a decade — closes for the season May 31. One week later, on Monday, June 1, the Gardens open Dog Days of Summer, the only window in the year non-service dogs are welcome on the grounds, and shift to early-morning summer hours. General admission runs $15 for adults and $13 for students, seniors, and active military; a family-of-four day visit is roughly $58, while a $85 family membership covers two adults and up to four children for a full year. Here is the May 21, 2026 walk-through for Tucson residents and relocation buyers weighing the metro's slow-summer amenity calendar.