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U.C. Botanical Garden at Berkeley

A fetching array of drought-resistant species are planted in the Entry Garden at the …

UCBG Berkeley Entry Structure by Marisha Farnsworth Photo © Alice Joyce

University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley

Currently on view is an inviting structure created by Marisha Farnsworth and her students from Merritt College’s Natural Building Class. The cloth textile ties are remnants provided by designer, Sasha Duerr.

Dudleya brittonii from Baja - Photo © Alice Joyce

The soft hue and fleshy foliage of Dudleya brittonii from Baja California caught my eye. Succulents like beautiful Dudleyas appeal more and more to gardeners looking for plants with low-water requirements.

The botanical garden is truly a living museum, with a global collection comprised of wild collected plants from the Americas to Asia, the Mediterranean to Australasia to Southern Africa. You’ll see rare cycads – architectural plants from the age of dinosaurs, along with a trove of orchids, ferns and carnivorous plants cultivated under glass. The Tropical House is a particularly delightful destination on cool winter days, when you’ll feel transported by the warm, moist environment. Notice a Red Dot? It points out rare and endangered species.

Mantis by Patrick E. Photo © Alice Joyce

Sculpture by artist Patrick E. installed at the Botanical Garden.

: Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden Footbridge Photo © Alice Joyce

Spend time in the Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden and you’ll experience a complex melding of fragrances wafting on the air. I love being enveloped by the scent in this distinctive atmosphere, and can recall how captivated I was during my first visit (when doing research on my first book), before moving to the Bay Area.

: Babiana ringens – So. Africa baboon flower Photo: Paul Licht

: Canary Island Collection Photo: Paul Licht

Savvy garden lovers can expect varied exhibitions of vivid blooms year-round: The Garden of Old Roses starts a bold display in May thru June. The Mediterranean area, South Africa and California gardens are lush from mid-April through mid-June.

South America blooms in May through June, while the Mesoamerica section is looking great in early August. Visit the Eastern North America section to see peak bloom in May for Rhodies & Trillium; around mid-summer the asters strut their stuff.
Asia has several flushes with some of the 400 Rhododendrons blooming from Feb through July. The large tree species are at their best in Feb-March.

Iconic American Landscape: Ruth Bancroft Garden

The Ruth Bancroft Garden (Photos: Brian Kemble)

Echinopsis hybrid

Displaying an originality that outshines traditional garden settings, The Ruth Bancroft Garden, located in Walnut Creek, California, reveals an eccentric cast of characters, along with an enthusiasm for succulent plants that traces back to the 1950s, when Mrs. Bancroft began collecting potted specimens.

After her husband, Philip, had phased out his family’s extensive walnut orchards, Mrs. Bancroft began in 1972 to plant her dry garden, containing a realm of plant life that characteristically requires limited water to thrive.

Bancroft Garden - Photo: Brian Kemble

Mrs. Bancroft developed a keen eye for form and structure as an architectural student in college. Such skills served her well in the garden’s early years, as she sited important palm trees and other arboreal specimens and shrubs.

After being ushered through the garden’s folly, you encounter the intriguing rosette forms of aloes, detecting great variety and scope in plants set off by spotted patterns and menacing pink teeth. Among the strange shapes and dramatic textures are tree-like aloes emblematic of the garden’s maturity.

View with Dasylirions in flower

All sorts of blooms materialize year-round in the garden. In spring and summer yuccas produce a host of towering, cream-colored flowering stalks, while the bizarre attributes of cactus plants indigenous to America are ornamented by pretty flowers followed by plentiful fruits. Aloes are garden curator Brian Kemble’s area of expertise. Among new hybrids developed by Kemble are plants producing flowers over a long period; with clouds of orange blooms creating a brilliant spectacle.

Bristly rotound cacti, yuccas with fibrous sharp-tipped, lance-like leaves, spiny agaves and escheverias with fleshy foliage assume their positions in mounded beds like a sculptural installation composed of living plant material.

Some years ago, I walked the paths guided by Mrs. Bancroft, and found that the assertive plant shapes enhance the garden’s organic layout. Mrs. Bancroft pointed out an area of slightly higher ground with an enticing planting of cacti, where she believed it to be a little warmer than the rest of the garden. Some cactus plants exhibit vivid red spines, while Eucalypts make alluring compatriots for the garden’s vast range of succulents.

Aloe folly: Brian Kemble Photo

Dodging raindrops, we entered a tunnel-like cover sheltering countless varieties of echeverias and gasterias: The wide cover built so that people could walk through and enjoy the plants in winter. I gazed down upon a topography composed of hairy-textured to felted to smooth and sleek leaves revealing a rosy pink glow. Huddled en masse, the gleaming flora boasted a scintillating palette of glaucous pale gray to olive green and blushed mauve, with red and violet tinges.

Mrs. Bancroft’s design artistry and gardening prowess as creator of this iconic landscape inspired the founding of The Garden Conservancy in 1989. Having set its sights on preserving our country’s horticultural legacy, the Conservancy championed Mrs.Bancroft’s 3-acre garden, selecting it as the first to be listed on the organization’s register.

Valley of the Moon: Quarryhill Botanical Garden

: Lilium leichtlinii var. maximowiczii (Photo: Christine Walker)

A botanical profusion of rare and endangered Asian species thrives in the naturalistic setting of Quarryhill Botanical Garden near Glen Ellen, in Northern California wine country. The lily pictured is but one among many: Continuing all through spring, summer and into the fall, collections of lilies from China and Japan offer colorful effects and scented displays.

Rain drops on lilly pads (Photo: Quarryhill Botanical Garden)

Originally the weekend home of benefactor and founder Jane Davenport Jansen, Quarryhill is located squarely within Sonoma County’s bucolic Valley of the Moon, where it spans some 60 acres. One-third of the terrain currently supports a unique woodland environment devoted to collections of plants from the temperate regions of China, Japan and the Himalayas. With more than 90 percent of the flora grown from wild-collected, scientifically documented seed, the collections have proven to be significant in North America.

Autumn at Quarryhill: Christine Walker Photo

A sturdy arbor partly encircled by a dry rock wall marks the gathering point for tours.

As the only formal element in the garden plan, the wooden structure stands out amid a rolling landscape of densely planted hillsides, large pools formed by a winter stream and smaller ponds created from old quarries that endow the property with its name.

: Photo: Christine Walker – Valley of the Moon Vista

Though Quarryhill draws professionals from around the globe, it also invites the amateur naturalist, plant lover or keen gardener to come and learn about Asian plant life. Visitors who take part in a Quarryhill tour conclude their experience upon reaching the final high point of the garden, marked by a mound of rocks adorned with Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags.

Gazing out at the spectacular view from this overlook, the garden’s director, Bill McNamara offers a thoughtful comment: “Usually botanical gardens end up being on flat land as an afterthought, but here we have these wonderful contours … you get great vistas and textures.”

Link to Quarryhill ….should you like to visit or to become a member.

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U.C. Botanical Garden at Berkeley

Iconic American Landscape: Ruth Bancroft Garden

Valley of the Moon: Quarryhill Botanical Garden

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