Botanical Gardens

Ruth Bancroft Garden

Bancroft Garden - Photo: Brian Kemble

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. Ruth Bancroft’s design artistry and gardening prowess as creator of an 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 the 3-acre Ruth Bancroft Garden, selecting it as the first to be listed on the organization’s register.

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Botanical Gardens

San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers

Potted Plants Gallery © Alice Joyce

A detailed restoration true to the roots of its historic architecture sets apart the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, a glorious structure standing as the country’s oldest public glass and wood greenhouse. You’ll doubtless find it easy to spend hours roaming through the Lowland Tropics and Highland Tropics rooms teeming with rarities both towering and tiny. Tropical specimens in the moist environs of the lowland gallery include a 100 year-old philodendron and ‘economic’ plants

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Botanical Gardens

Vancouver .. VanDusen Botanical Garden

VanDusen Laburnum Walk

A city energized by cultural diversity, Vancouver is a superb destination in every way. VanDusen Botanical Garden – one of the city’s gems – is a hilly 55-acre setting located at 5251 Oak Street. Month by month the landscape turns heads as Himalayan blue poppies progress to a sea of wildflowers blanketing meadows followed by fiery fall color. The Spring season provides eye-catching swathes of narcissi, advancing to a pathway replete with rhododendrons and scented azaleas, and famed Laburnum Walk.

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