For thousands of years, humans have studied trees to learn how they too can provide suitable housing for squirrels and grow lemons from their fingertips. Join the pursuit of leafy progress with today’s Groupon to Desert Botanical Garden. Choose from the following options:

• For $9, you get one adult admission to the garden from September 14–28 (an $18 value) to see David Rogers' Big Bugs exhibit. Desert Botanical Garden normally offers discounts for seniors ($15), students ($10), and children ($8). Members and children under three receive free admission.

• For $9, you get admission for one to the Avant-Garden series (up to an $18 value) on one of the following Thursdays:
  • October 6
  • October 13
  • October 27
  • November 3
  • November 10
  • November 17

• For $25, you get $50 worth of plants at the Fall Plant Sale on Saturday, October 15 and Sunday, October 16.

Desert Botanical Garden nurtures more than 50 acres of desert plants and welcomes more than 600,000 patrons to explore the botanical ranch and attend special exhibits and events throughout the year. In September, guests can admire the David Rogers' Big Bugs exhibit's 11 whimsical, over-size insect sculptures sprinkled among the garden's normal vegetation. Observe an army of giant ants on a hillside before heading over to a praying mantis statue, or shout crochet questions at a spider perched on its web. The statues, all crafted from natural materials such as fallen wood or twigs, weigh anywhere from 300 to 1,200 pounds and, like over-achieving yardsticks, stretch up to 25 feet in length.

Thursday nights in the fall, the Avant-Garden series unites local vendors, presenters, and performers for an evening of tasty dining and eclectic music. Visitors 21 and older can bolster their fall-fashion knowledge with tips from area designers or unleash built-up guffaws during a sketch-comedy performance. Bluegrass and alternative rock concerts infuse airwaves with live music, and a neo-soul band provides a backdrop and a suitable beret-sewing rhythm for a spoken-word poetry reading. Certain dates feature wine and beer tastings, but every night boasts a chef-attended dining station and full cash bar for an additional charge.

Horticulture experts help customers sort through an extensive array of shrubs, perennials, cacti, and other flora during the Fall Plant Sale on October 15 and 16. Spruce up a home garden with a globe mallow ($6.50 for one gallon) or use a 5-gallon Santa Rita prickly pear ($30) to deflect unwanted hummingbird encyclopedia salesmen. A 5-gallon desert lavender plant ($20) splashes a fragrant burst of color to otherwise hue-less yards or a softening touch to sharp, geometrically-blessed 3-gallon Parry's agave ($30).