If an award for the most interesting and amazing Tucson yard was given out, Harrison Yocum, horticulturist and founder of the Tucson Botanical Gardens, would most certainly win. Harrison is a friend of my parents, and I went with them to visit him last Saturday.

My parents told me to bring along my camera, and I'm sure glad that I did! I have never seen a house and garden like Harrison's before.

Everywhere you look there is an interesting and unusual plant or rock. Harrison has such a large collection of rock and mineral specimens that he has piled some of them into artistic, small-scale mountain ranges around his garden.

Cacti, colorful succulents like the one below, and other interesting things can be found tucked amidst the rocks.

Many of the rocks themselves are also quite colorful.

Even the walls of Harrison's house are covered with a fantastic collection of colorful rocks and geodes.

Harrison has constructed numerous stacked rock totems, and they are some of the most unusual yard decorations I've ever seen.

Harrison's garden is so creative and unique that it has been featured in magazines like Arizona Highways (May 2005). Despite being in his 80s, Harrison still teaches rock and mineral collecting classes, writes, and pursues his many other interests as well as maintaining his fantastic garden.