Wilbur D. May Center, Botanical garden in Reno, Nevada, US

The Wilbur D. May Center comprises the Wilbur D. May Museum and the 13-acre Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, Reno, Nevada. The arboretum, at 4,600 feet between the Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin Desert, demonstrates high-desert gardening with areas such as the Burke Garden and Honey's Garden. Evans Creek flows through the middle of the site.

Wilbur D. May was a Reno rancher and pilot who traveled to more than 40 countries in the first half of the 20th century, bringing back objects from each destination. After his death, the center was established to display his collection and develop the garden grounds around it.

The museum's collection comes from Wilbur D. May's more than 40 trips around the world. It includes Tang dynasty pottery, African masks, Inuit scrimshaws, Egyptian scarab figures, Greek icons, wildlife dioramas and a shrunken head from South America. A recreation of rooms from his Double Diamond Ranch is also on view.

The garden grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset at no charge, while the museum building requires a ticket to enter. The whole property is best explored on foot, so comfortable shoes are a good idea before arriving.

Evans Creek runs through the property, fed by snowmelt from Peavine Mountain, and connects the gardens directly to the Truckee River and Pyramid Lake. This means the water flowing past the plants here is part of a living chain that stretches across a large portion of northern Nevada.