The Ojos y Manos: Eyes and Hands Garden hadn’t opened the first time I visited Santa Fe Botanical Garden. So during my return visit last month, I was happy to be able to explore it. (Here’s Part 1 of my recent visit.)

Ojos y Manos, an educational and culinary garden with an amphitheater, is accessed via the picturesque red Kearny’s Gap Bridge, which was moved here from a New Mexico ranch.

It spans a scrubby arroyo at the botanical garden.

Brassy inflorescences of Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) glow against green hills and blue sky.

According to the garden’s website, “Ojos y Manos: Eyes and Hands Garden is a place to explore ethnobotany – the shared history of humans and plants in northern New Mexico – through hands-on experiences and observation…[It has] three dedicated outdoor classrooms, two exploration places, and a learning pavilion with a seating capacity of 100.”

Twin towers of flat stone, improbably balanced to about 8 feet tall, mark the entrance to the garden. This is the view back toward the bridge.

Tiered beds of crops arc around the amphitheater, with grassy berms of blue grama also enclosing the space.

The shaded amphitheater is inviting as a place to sit and take it all in, and I can imagine how nice it would be to watch a performance here, or attend a class. A colorful mosaic at the back of the space features…

…corn, beans, and squash, the “three sisters” crops grown by indigenous peoples of the Americas. This piece, Sisters of the Sun and Moon, was designed by landscape architect W. Gary Smith, who also did the overall design for Santa Fe Botanical Garden — as well as the Family Garden at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Detail of Sisters of the Sun and Moon

Chard, peppers, squash, and tomatoes growing in the tiered beds — and datura. The garden’s website says datura has long been used medicinally. That particular datura, all parts of which are toxic, is a little close to the leafy vegetables for my comfort level though.

Tomatoes soaking up the heat

An upright plant with burgundy leaves — an amaranth — marches up the amphitheater steps, glowing in the sun.

Backlit leaves

The view from the top

And from the side

At the rear of the amphitheater, a pine-adorned gate allows access to the garden’s largely undeveloped Piñon-Juniper Woodland and its trails. I didn’t explore those this time.

More late-summer yellows

Narrow-leaved soapweed yucca (Yucca glauca) and its interesting seedpods

And I can’t resist — more Apache plume

Flowers and seed heads of Apache plume

So pretty

Light-catching filaments

Sown alongside vegetables in the raised beds, pink cosmos adds bright color.

One more look

Indiangrass

Clusters of blue berries on New Mexico privet, aka elbow bush (Forestiera pubescens), stand out against bright-green leaves.

This pretty shrub or small tree is native to both New Mexico and Texas, among other Southwestern states.

Adjacent to the culinary garden, two adobe-clay ovens called hornos are used to demonstrate traditional cooking methods.

Their earthy domes echo the rounded hills in the distance.

Straw and mud covering

Apache plume looks great with the terracotta horno and curvy wall.

And with the red bridge. Really, what doesn’t Apache plume go with?

Up next: Gallery art and colorful Santa Fe scenery. For a look back at Part 1 of my visit to Santa Fe Botanical Garden, click here.

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Digging Deeper

Austin readers, come get ideas for designing a welcoming and USEFUL front yard at Garden Spark tomorrow. There are 3 open seats for Lorie Kinler and Michael Kinler’s Garden Spark talk on 9/22. I’ve seen a sneak peek of their presentation — inspiring photos of front yard designs! — and you won’t want to miss this one. Here’s the ticket page link: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5538359

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.