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Friday, October 2, 2015

Arthur L. Menzies Garden of California Native Plants


Rhododendron occidentale


Manzanita (Arctostaphylos species)

Iris douglasiana


All photos were taken in April 2014.

Click here for more photos of the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

The Arthur L. Menzies Garden of California Native Plants is the one of the most beautiful & amazing native plant gardens I have seen.  It is jam-packed with many different native plants, yet manages to look natural & only somewhat cultivated, at the same time.  It covers 4 acres of the San Francisco Botanical Garden (formerly Strybing Arboretum) in Golden Gate Park with arroyos, ponds, woodlands & a wildflower meadow.  It is the best-tended site within the botanical garden & the main reason to visit there, in my opinion.  This, the arboretum's most popular spring attraction, is most lovely in April & May.  I have a great love of native plants in general & California native plants in particular.  I studied garden design in San Francisco starting in 1988, the same year the redesign of the native plant garden was installed.  The new garden was designed by the San Francisco landscape architect Ron Lutsko Jr. & won a National Award of Merit from the American Society of Landscape Architects.  The original native plant garden dates back to 1960.  Another amazing California native plant garden is the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, which rivals this one.  It is located in Claremont in the Los Angeles area & focuses on the ecosystems of the southern part of the state. 

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