gardens-to-visit.com

Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens

2009-02-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

The Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens contains 91 acres (37 hectares) of parkland, gardens, and landscapes that focus on the regional plants, ecology and character of Southwestern New England. The Arboretum is open and accessible to the public every day of the year. It is located at 151 Brookdale Road in Stamford, Connecticut, USA.

The Arboretum started in 1913, when Dr. Francis A. Bartlett, an eminent dendrologist and founder of the F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company, acquired "30 acres [12 hectares] more or less" of North Stamford woodland to use as his residence, training school and research laboratory for his company. Over the years he assembled a large number of plant specimens on the property from all over the world. In 1965, when the research laboratory moved to North Carolina, the Stamford site, then covering more than 60 acres (24 hectares), was purchased by the State of Connecticut and designated the Connecticut State Arboretum. In 1993, the land and overall operation of the Arboretum were transferred to the University of Connecticut at Stamford. In 2001, the land was transferred to the City of Stamford and operations were transferred to the Bartlett Arboretum Association an independent non-profit organization. The Bartlett Arboretum Association continues to operate the grounds today.

In January 2007, the Arboretum started offering a landscaping class for Spanish-speaking landscapers. Although taught in English, key words and expressions are translated into Spanish. The landscapers are taught subjects such as proper planting, mulching and pruning, and safety rules, and they receive a certificate at the end of the course.

In 2006 the Arboretum began numerous research programs, continuing the tradition of research begun by Dr. Bartlett nearly a century earlier. Current research focuses on local plant ecology such as floristics and herbivory responses of Connecticut Forests, and the ecology and evolution of tropical plants, particularly the Araceae. This work has led to several published research papers by staff in the past few years.

The Herbarium of the Bartlett Arboretum, open to the public Monday - Thursday and by appointment, is a rapidly expanding collection of over 3500 specimens. The Arboretum plans a doubling of this collection by 2009. While most specimens are from the Northeastern United States, the collection also houses material from the Southeastern Unites States and Adjacent Mexico (200), the Caribbean (100), Amazonian Peru (150), the former Soviet Union (200),and Africa (100). This collection includes approximately 2,500 species of vascular plants, and 1,000 species of Bryophyte. The collection currently houses one type specimen.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr users: Puzzler4879, gailf548, Archman8, Brooklyn Bridge Baby,

Western Colorado Botanical Gardens

2008-12-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

The Western Colorado Botanical Gardens 12 acres (49,000 m²) are botanical gardens located at the southern end of 7th Street in Grand Junction, Colorado, USA. The gardens are public, and financed by admission fees and donations. Founded in 1994, The Gardens have been dramatically increasing the size of the facility since 2003.

The Gardens have reclaimed a downtown site previously filled with thousands of used tires, junk car parts, and dead batteries. The debris has been replaced with a 4000 square foot (370 m²) greenhouse and butterfly house, featuring over 600 orchids and other tropical plants from around the world. A variety of outdoor gardens have been developed and/or planned, including a Cactus and Succulent Garden, Children's Secret Garden, Harmony In Color Garden, International Garden, Native Garden, Seasonal Xeric Garden, and Sensory Garden.

The Native Garden is a miniature replica of Colorado's Grand Valley, including the Grand Mesa, the Colorado National Monument and Mount Garfield, with plantings related to the 13 geological zones of Western Colorado.

The Cactus and Succulent Garden displays native cactus species, as well as other cold-hardy cactus and succulent plants.

from wikipedia.org
images from:flickr user curious spider, home-and-garden.webshots.com

Denver Botanic Gardens

2008-11-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

The Denver Botanic Gardens is a public botanical garden located in Denver, Colorado in the Cheesman Park neighborhood. The 23-acre (93,000 m2) park contains a conservatory, a variety of theme gardens and a sunken amphitheater, which hosts various concerts in the summer. Woody Allen's 1973 movie Sleeper filmed some scenes at the gardens.

The Japanese Garden at the Denver Botanic Garden is called Shofu-en -- the Garden of Wind and Pines. It was designed by Koichi Kawana.

The Denver Botanic Gardens, along with nearby Cheesman Park and Congress Park, sit atop what used to be the city's cemetery. Although many of the bodies were removed in the 1950s, graves have been found as recently as 2008 during construction of an underground parking structure.

from wikipedia.org

images from picasa user: xuxiao

The Rarest Flowers

2008-10-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

Most of us thought that flowers and plants that are capable of blooming once after thousands of years exist only in childhood fairytales. Meanwhile, big plants capable of consuming their small prey are thought to be extinct. Fortunately, recent discoveries have validated the existence of these creatures. However, biologists have considered their population as endangered species due to the low existing numbers of their kind. Environmental changes and man-made activities are considered the primary reasons for the decline of their numbers.

Youtan Poluo

The 38 pieces of very small white flowers measuring a diameter of 1mm was found by a Chinese farmer - Mr. Ding - growing in his steel pipes. Youtan Poluo is a legendary flower thought to exist only in the Buddhist scriptures. According to botanical experts, the flower only blooms once every 3000 years.

According to Indian Myth, the flower only blossoms when the Sage King of the future visits the present world. Youtan Poluo is translated in Sanskrit as "Udumbara" or "Udambara" flower. Similar phenomenon has occurred at Chonggye-sa Temple in Seoul when the flower blossomed on the Buddha statue's forehead.

Nepenthes Tenax

From the species of tropical flesh-eating pitcher plant, the nepenthes tenax has been spotted in the Northern Queensland, Australia. The Nepenthes Tenax can grow a maximum height of 100 cm with vines exceeding to 25 cm high. Nepenthes Tenax is regarded as exceptional specie of pitcher flower since others can only grow at a maximum height of 15 cm.
N. Tenax is last found only January this year by the ecologist, Charles Clarke, from James Cook University. The plant is found in the northern Cape York. Botanical archeologists believe that this flower can actually consume small rats, mice, lizards and even birds. Botanists predict that the flower will cost around hundreds of U.S dollars per piece if sold in the global black market.

Kadupul Flower

The legendary flower, named Kadupul, is believed to be an offering of Celestial Nagas for Buddha after they bloom. Kadupul flowers emit strange fragrance as it blooms during midnight. Strangely, these flowers immediately die during dawn.
Seeing Kadupul flower blooms is a very rare experience among those that grow the flower. Kadupul flower is native to Sri Lankan lands but still, the blooming of the flowers has rarely been spotted even by the locals.

Silversword or Ahinahina Plant

The endangered plant since 1922, Ahinahina, exclusively grows only in the alpine regions of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Haleakala. The tough skin of this plant is capable of enduring harsh weather conditions, especially snowy weather and intensive heat of the sun.
Ahinahina plant is currently being cultivated and protected from external threats due to their threatened population. According to the authorities of Haleakala National Park, silverswords have been endangered by extensive herding and vandalism.

After sensing the creature, the tentacles perform its predatory mechanism, called thigmotropism, in order to trap its prey. Afterwards, the plant digests the prey using its digestive glands. Sundews are now considered endangered due to the increasing temperature as well as the limited growing areas available for their kind.

Drosera capensis

Otherwise known as the Cape sundew, Drosera capensis is native to the land of South African cape. Cape Sundew is usually cultivated in the southern capes of Africa due to its insecticidal function. Sundew has its strap-like and beautifully colored tentacles that can grow to a length of 15 cm and 1 cm wide. These tentacles secrete sticky mucous substance called mucilage, which traps insects or other small preys.

Amazing and Weird Plants That Eat Animals

2008-10-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

These are exciting, intriguing, and fascinating strange plants that eat animals.

Carnivorous plants refer to any meat-eating plants with urn-, trumpet-, or pitcher-shaped leaves. Asclepiadaceae (milkweed family), Sarraceniaceae (new world pitcher plants, or Sarracenia genus found in the eastern part of North America), and Nepenthaceae (Old World pitcher plants) are some of their examples. They inhibit primarily in wet or sandy meadows, savannas, swamps, bogs, fens, or any places where the soils are acidic, water-saturated, lack of phosphates or nitrates, and sunshine seasonally abundant living environments.

The known species of carnivorous plants are more than 660 species and 9 plant families, with the Venus flytrap being the famous and one of the most abundant species among them. Meanwhile, the Utricularia genus is identified as the largest number of the species on earth.

I think these plants do not appear as early as other prehistoric plants on earth. The reason is that they need Nitrogen as their essential nutrients for their growth. Most plants cannot absorb Nitrogen directly from the air, except for a small number of leguminous plants which are adapted with unique nitrogen-fixing property as in the example of Rhizobium.

Most carnivorous plants inhibit in some water-saturated places which are found to be more prone to lack of Nitrogen. In order to sustain the survival, most living things had by means to undergo certain evolution processes to enable themselves to be adapted with their own “fixing” property or to survive in low-nutrients environments. That means, they have to break down the insects to obtain their Nitrogen content (insect bodies contain about 10.5% nitrogen), and hence they are termed as meat-eating plants. The nitrogen content in their tissues that is obtained from their prey ranges from 20 to 75%, depending on their species (such as Cephalotus, Drosera, Nepenthes, Pinguicula, Sarracenia, Utricularia, and etc.). Apart from Nitrogen, Utricularia and Triphyophyllum are also known to absorb Magnesium and Potassium, while Sarracenia absorbs Phosphorus in prey. The adaptation of their leaves specially modified as traps enable them to obtain some nutrients by trapping and digesting various invertebrates, and occasionally they may even digest larger animals such as frogs and mammals.

Most carnivorous plants can carry out photosynthesis (a process which enables plants to make their own foods), besides digesting their prey to obtain essential nutrients. Meanwhile, they can sustain under extreme environmental surroundings. They are adapted with a prey-trapping mechanism feature characterizing by their deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. Scientists believe that they may have evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favoring more deeply cupped leaves over relatively long evolutionary time. Some of them such as Nepenthes are placed within clades consisting particularly of flypaper traps, but some have evolved from flypaper traps by loss of mucilage. Very often, these plants climb by tendrils. The end of these tendrils may develop into pitchers, which help them to capture and digest insects.

In insectivorous plants (insects are one of their common prey items), their leaves appear in the form of deep cups or pitchers in which visiting insects will fall into them. Once in the plant, the prey tumbles down into a liquid pool and drowns, and then they are digested by the action of enzymes secreted by cells located in the walls in their pitcher-like structures of these plants. The digestion of prey releases nitrates and other nutrients, and these essential nutrients are then absorbed for their growth.

The Venus flytrap, which has leaf lobes, is one of the wonder in the world of plants as this carnivorous plant can capture its prey very quickly in a terrifying way. The Utricularia genus is an underwater plant, which can suck its prey into bladders with its fastest-acting trap in times as short as 1/30 of a second. Meanwhile, the complex-acting trap belongs to genus Genlisea.

Nepenthes or the Monkey cup (the tropical pitcher plant) satisfies its appetite with crawling bugs, insects, and even in certain rare cases, rat or bird that could not find its way out of a Nepenthes pitcher becomes sick or near death in its trap. The centipede may cry in help if it is accidentally trapped by Nepenthes. Like Nepenthes, Venus also involves in the vertebrate buffet as it has been observed with frog skeletons in its trap. Utricularia and Aldrovanda live with their traps submerging in water and they capture rotifers, daphnia, mosquito larvae and other larger aquatics as their foods. Pinguicula and Drosera captures moths, flies, gnats and other flying insects as their prey. The genus Genlisea captures protozoans. It is scary to see pitcher plants such as Cephalotus, Nepenthes, Sarracenia digest wasps, butterflies, beetles, ants, spiders, and flies in a tremendously rapid and terrible manner!

Carnivorous plants such as Venus flytraps, sundews, butterworts, and many genera of pitcher plants make their own digestive enzymes (such as ribonuclease, chitinase, amylase, peroxidise, phosphatise, protease, lipase, and esterase) to help digest and dissolve the protein in their prey. Nevertheless, other types of these plants (such as Heliamphora) depend wholly on bacteria to provide them the appropriate enzymes. They let the food rotting in their traps, before consuming the decomposed molecules as they are unable to secrete the digestive juices to aid in digestion. There is also an obvious symbiotic relationship found among the carnivorous plants (such as Sarracenia purpurea) as they rely upon both bacterially generated enzymes and their own enzymes. In this case, the bacteria get comfortable and cool places to live on these plants, while the plants enjoy the bug-soup digested by the bacteria.

Each of these carnivorous plants is very smart in playing tricks to attract their prey. These hungry carnivores emit deadly sweet scent; some have patches of pigmentation on their traps, or brightly colored nectar-like orbs to beguile their prey; some bear sticky, gummy, wet and slippery parts to curb their captured prey from being escaping away. The prey with “straight and simple brains”, of course, will always find hard to run away from those strange downward-pointing hairs, or slippery chambers attaching to these plants. Not enough to these descriptions, there are always dangerous traps and tricks such as sucking bladders, snapping jaws, and woefully efficient narcotic compounds abound these hungry carnivores. So, animals should beware and mind their steps before selecting places for them to rest on or stop. Otherwise, they will be doomed to death.

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

2008-10-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is a 26 ha (65 acre) garden, containing over 1,000 species of rare and indigenous plants. It is located in Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara, California, USA.

The purpose of the Garden is to display California native plants in natural settings. There are approximately 9.2 km (5.5 miles) of hiking trails within the garden. Mission Creek flows through the premises, and includes a rock dam which was constructed in 1806 by Native Americans (mainly Canaliños) under the direction of the Spanish padres of the adjacent Mission Santa Barbara. From now until 2007, the Garden is home to Patrick Dougherty's latest sculpture, Toad Hall, a two-story tower and a maze of pathways and chambers made of twisted and woven willows.

The Garden was founded in 1926 and designed by noted landscape architect Beatrix Farrand. By 1936 its focus had narrowed to plants native to the California Floristic Province (which includes a bit of southwestern Oregon and part of Baja California, as well as most of the state of California). The Garden became a Santa Barbara County Landmark in 1983 (the dam on Mission Creek was already designated as a State Historic Landmark).

The Garden has a plant breeding program. Plant introduction include Aesculus californica 'Canyon Pink', Agave shawii, Arctostaphylos 'White Lanterns', Arctostaphylos 'Canyon Blush', Arctostaphylos insularis 'Canyon Sparkles', Artemisia californica 'Canyon Gray', Berberis aquifolium 'Mission Canyon', Ceanothus 'Wheeler Canyon', Ceanothus 'Far Horizons', Ceanothus arboreus 'Powder Blue', Eriophyllum nevinii 'Canyon Silver', Fremontodendron 'Dara's Gold', Heuchera 'Blushing Bells', Heuchera 'Canyon Belle', Heuchera 'Canyon Chimes', Heuchera 'Canyon Delight',Heuchera 'Canyon Duet', Heuchera 'Canyon Melody', Heuchera 'Canyon Pink', Heuchera 'Dainty Bells', Heuchera 'Pink Wave', Iris 'Canyon Snow', Lessingia filaginifolia 'Silver Carpet', Leymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince', Salvia 'Dara's Choice', Salvia cedrosensis 'Baja Blanca', Salvia leucophylla 'Amethyst Bluff', and Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina'.

from wikipedia.org

The Betty Ford Alpine Garden

2008-10-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens are the world's highest botanical garden, located at 183 Gore Creek Drive, Vail, Colorado, USA, at an 8,200 feet altitude in the Rocky Mountains. The Gardens are open to the public daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The Gardens were founded by Vail and Denver horticulturists in 1985, with subsequent planting of the Alpine Display Garden (1987), Mountain Perennial Garden (1989), Mountain Meditation Garden (1991), and the Alpine Rock Garden (1999) with its stunning 120-foot waterfall. Other gardens include the Children's Garden and Schoolhouse Garden. Together these gardens contain about 2,000 varieties of plants, including over 500 different varieties of wildflowers and alpine plants.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr users: Jean., Lou Springer

San Jose Municipal Rose Garden

2008-10-09T15:47:00.001-07:00

The San Jose Municipal Rose Garden (5.5 acres) is a rose garden located at the intersection of Naglee Avenue and Dana Avenue, San Jose, California, in the Rose Garden neighborhood. It is open to the public daily without charge.

The garden was once a prune orchard, but was bought by San Jose in 1927 and is now exclusively devoted to roses. It features more than 3,500 rose shrubs representing 189 rose varieties.

On May 3, 2004, an estimated 3,500 people attended the memorial service for former NFL safety and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who was killed in combat in Afghanistan, in the garden.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr users: melastmohican, KayMTee, GerryL, Chris, Pinuxette

San Francisco Botanical Garden

2008-10-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Botanical Garden (formerly Strybing Arboretum) is a large botanical garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Its 55 acres (22.3 ha) include over 7,500 varieties of plants from around the world, making it one of the largest on the West Coast of the United States.

Originally laid out in the 1890s by park supervisor John McLaren, funding was insufficient to begin construction until Helene Strybing willed funds in 1926. Planting was begun in 1937 with WPA funds supplemented by local donations, and the arboretum officially opened in May of 1940. As a part of Golden Gate Park, it is officially managed by the city of San Francisco, but the SF Botanical Garden Society plays an important role in providing educational programs. Formed in 1955, the SF Botanical Garden Society (formerly the Strybing Arboretum Society) operates the Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture, a bookstore, monthly plant sales and offers a wide range of community education programs for children and adults. The Society also raises money for new projects and Garden renovations. Using green building practices, a new Center for Sustainable Gardening is planned to replace the existing nursery. Other planned renovations include a Southeast Asian Cloud Forest and newly paved pathways.

The Garden continues to actively acquire plants; in 2007 it received 701 accessions totalling over 4,000 individual plants.

It was the site of the finish line on the popular reality show The Amazing Race: All-Stars.

The gardens are organized into several specialized collections:

* Mediterranean
o California native plants
o John Muir Nature Trail
o Redwood Trail
o Chile
o Cape Province (South Africa)
o Southwestern Australia
o Mediterranean Basin Region
* Mild-temperate climate
o Eastern Australia
o New Zealand
o Moon-viewing Garden - a Japanese design
o Takamine Garden - Asian plants
o Temperate Asia Garden
* Montane tropic
o Mesoamerican cloud forest
o Southeast Asian cloud forest
* Specialty collections
o Ancient Plant Garden - cycads, etc
o Succulent garden
o Dwarf Conifer garden
o Demonstration Gardens
o Garden of Fragrance
o Zellerbach Garden of Perennials
o Dry Mexico
o Magnolias & Camellias

The mild Mediterranean climate is ideal for plants from surprisingly many parts of the world; the arboretum does not include greenhouses for species requiring other climate types.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr user: sftrajan

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

2008-10-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden 86 acres (34.8 ha) is a botanical garden dedicated to native Californian plants. It is located at 1500 North College Avenue in Claremont, California, USA, just south of the San Gabriel foothills. The Garden is a non-profit organization, open to the public with free admission.

Its origins began in 1927, when Susanna Bixby Bryant established a native garden on her rancho in Orange County. The garden relocated to Claremont in 1951. The Garden now contains some 70,000 native Californian plants, representing 2,000 native species, hybrids and cultivars.

The Garden has an active research department, specializing in systematic botany and floristics. The combined herbarium of the Garden and Pomona College holds over 1,000,000 specimens. The journal Aliso is published from the Garden semiannually. The Garden offers graduate degrees in botany through Claremont Graduate University.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr users:bonbayel, Brown Eyed World

Lumbini Garden, Nepal

2008-10-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Lumbini Garden was the Buddha’s birthplace. In Sanskrit, Lumbini means ‘the lovely’. It was the family home of his mother, Mayadevi, and she returned here from Kapilavastu (25 km east of Lumbini) to give birth to Siddhartha Gautama, later the Buddha (‘Enlightened One’). The site was described by the Chinese pilgrim Fa Xian and re-discovered in 1896. In 1997 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and there is a master plan for a monastic zone by the famous Japanese modernist architect Kenzo Tange. Like the same designer’s plan for the Peace Park in Hiroshima, it seems to have been inspired by the Neo-Baroque. There is a long avenue and a circular canal. But the sacred pool remains a place of exceptional calm.

from gardenvisit.com

Quarryhill Botanic Garden

2008-10-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

The Quarryhill Botanical Garden 61 acres (247,000 m²) is a research botanical garden housing one of the largest collections of temperate Asian plants in North America. Plantings began in 1990. It is located near Glen Ellen, California, USA in Sonoma Valley, and is open to the public.

One-third of the garden is devoted to plants from temperate China, Japan and the Himalayas, with more than 90 percent grown from wild-collected, scientifically documented seed. The collection includes rare varieties such as Cornus capitata, Holboellia coriacea, Illicium simonsii, Rosa chinensis var. spontanea, native to Sichuan, as well as extensive collections of various wild Asian dogwoods, lilies, magnolias, maples, oaks, roses, and rhododendrons.

The Arboretum can be traced back to 1968, when Jane Davenport Jansen purchased its land for vineyards. In 1987, she started a garden on 20 acres (81,000 m²) of hillsides among old rock quarries. In that year, Quarryhill representatives made their first seed collecting expedition to Asia. A nursery was established in 1988, and planting began in 1990.

Annual Quarryhill expeditions have collected seeds and herbarium specimens from the following Asian regions to date: China - Hubei, Sichuan, Taiwan, Tibet, Yunnan; India - Himachal Pradesh; Japan - Hokkaidō, Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku, Yakushima; and Nepal. Other expeditions have collected from North America. The garden also receives wild collected seed courtesy of Indices Seminum from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, as well as Asian seed and plants from North American gardens.

from wikipedia.org

Quail Botanical Gardens

2008-10-05T01:14:00.001-07:00

The Quail Botanical Gardens 30 acres (12.1 ha) are located at 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, California, USA, and include rare bamboo groves (said to be the largest bamboo collection in the United States), desert gardens, a tropical rainforest, California native plants, Mediterranean climate landscapes, and a subtropical fruit garden. The gardens are open to the public daily; a parking fee is charged.

Until 1957 the gardens were the private estate of Ruth Baird Larabee, at which time she donated her house and grounds to the County of San Diego. The Quail Botanical Gardens Foundation was established in 1961.

Today the gardens include nearly 3,000 varieties of tropical, subtropical, and California native plants. Collections include the climate-based gardens for the New World and Old World Desert, Coastal Sage Scrub, Sub-Tropical Fruit, a Pinetum, a Palm Canyon, as well as geographically organized gardens for Africa, Australia, Arid Madagascar Garden, Arid South America, the Canary Islands, Cape South Africa, Central America, the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, New Zealand, the Pan-Tropical Rainforest with a 60-foot waterfall, and the Pacific.

Plant varieties include fuchsias, hibiscus, bamboos, proteas, cacti and succulents, as well as other drought-resistant plants including Australian shrubs. Herbs, water plants, wildflowers, perennials, brugmansias, cork oaks, and palms are also featured.

from wikipedia.org
images from pbase users:Ken Leonard, Caryn Clancy, Herbert Knufken, Thel Hooks

Engakuji Temple Garden (Eifuku-ji)

2008-10-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

Engakuji is the main temple of the Engakuji section of the Rinzai Buddhist sect. The garden was restored in 1969 according to an old drawing. Zen Buddhism regarded gardens as microcosms of the natural landscape and this is a fine example. Kamakura became important when Shogun Yorimoto Minamoto wrested power from the imperial court at Kyoto.

Engaku-ji is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa prefecture to the south of Tokyo. It is very close to the Kita-Kamakura railway station on the Tokyo to Yokosuka line, and indeed the railway tracks cut across the formal entrance to the temple compound, which (showing Chinese influence) is by a path beside a pond which is crossed by a small bridge.

The temple was founded in 1282 by a Chinese Zen monk at the request of the then rule of Japan, the regent Hojo Tokimune after he had repelled a Mongolian invasion in the period 1274 to 1281. Tokimune had a long-standing commitment to Zen and the temple was intended to honour those of both sides who died in the war, as well as serving as a centre from which the influence of Zen could be spread. According to the records of the time, when building work started a copy of the Engaku-kyo, the sutra on Perfect Enlightenment, was dug out of the hillside in a stone chest during the initial building works, giving its name to the temple.

The fortunes of the temple have waxed and waned over the centuries. Its present form is owed to the Zen priest Seisetsu, who reconstructed and consolidated it towards the end of the Edo era. In the Meiji era, Engaku-ji became the chief centre for Zen instruction in the Kanto region; Kosen Roshi and Soyen Shaku were successively abbots in this period, and Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was a student under them. Zazen courses are still held in the temple.

Fire has damaged many of the buildings at different times, and the dates given below refer to the building of the structures currently seen. From the entrance, the buildings of the temple rise up a wooded hillside, with the major buildings in a straight line in the Chinese style; the austere buildings and the trees blending in a satisfying overall composition. There are altogether 18 temples on the site. Among the buildings and other monuments are:

the two-storied main gate, San-mon (1783), with framed calligraphy by the Emperor Fushimi;
a large modern Buddha Hall or Butsu-den (1964);
Shari-den, built in the sixteenth century in the style of the Chinese Song dynasty, which houses what is claimed to be a tooth of the Buddha;
the thatched Butsunichi-an which is the burial site of Hojo Tokimune;
Ōbai-in, a small thatched temple containing a statue of Kannon;
Ōgune (1301), at 2.5 metres tall the largest of all the many temple bells of Kamakura.

Of these, Shari-den and Ōgune have been designated as Japanese national treasures.

There is a small charge (as of 2005, 200 yen) for visitors to enter the temple complex, and additional similar charges to enter a few of the buildings. Booths selling tourist items are located near the entrance, below the San-mon, and there are refreshment facilities in the garden of the Shari-den and at the platform where the Ōgune bell is located, from where there are extensive views across the valley to other temple complexes in the Kita-Kamakura neighbourhood, such as Jochi-ji and Tokei-ji.

source:gardenvisit.com, nationmaster.com

images from flickr users:Luke Robinson, Jaime Perez, Blue Lotus, keatl, Gadjo Dilo, Emitr, dave italy

Katsura Imperial Palace Garden

2008-10-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

Katsura Imperial Villa was built in the early Edo Period for Prince Toshhihito (1579-1629) and work began when he was 40. The prince himself was the main designer, working with Kobori Enshu, a tea master, government official and garden designer. A lake (1.25 ha) was dug, hills and islands formed, beaches made, pavillions built and planting undertaken. The result was a pleasure landscape of the kind described by Lady Murasaki in the Tale of Genji, 620 years earlier. There are 16 bridges. The lake could be used for boating parties and the surrounding land as a stroll garden, in effect a tea garden on an enormous scale. The 'Katsura Tree' (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) was associated with the God of the Moon and the garden has a platform to view its rising. After Prince Toshhihito died the work was continued by a fromer emperor, Gomizunoo. There are 23 stone lanterns to light the stroll path after dark. They were a recent introduction to Japanese gardens but have come to be thought of as typical, along with the stepping stones which reinforce the path and protect the plants. Stone basins were used for hand-washing before a tea ceremony. Katsura was designed not only for meditation (Zen) but also for ceremonious courtly pleasures. Its elegance, balance and harmonious restraint have charmed all visitors.

from gardenvisit.com
images from flickr user: Purple Cloud

Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium

2008-10-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

The Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium is a 1 acre (4,000 m²) family-owned botanical garden specializing in cacti and other desert plants, located at 1701 South Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California, USA. It is open to the public for a fee.

The Gardens were established in 1939 by Patricia and Chester "Cactus Slim" Moorten, one of the original Keystone Cops. The Moortens collected many of their own plants from Baja California, Mexico, and as far south as Guatemala.

Today the garden includes 3,000 examples of desert cacti and other desert plants, grouped by geographic regions: Arizona, Baja California, California, Colorado, the Mojave desert, the Sonora desert, South Africa, arid South America, and Texas. Outdoor collections include agaves, bombax, crested Cereus, cardoon and boojum trees, arborescent "candelabra" Euphorbia, a two-story Pachypodium, thorned Caesalpinia and Bursera, and some dozen aloes of southern Africa and Madagascar. In the "Cactarium" greenhouse are cacti and succulents, with caudiciform species exhibiting thickened root crowns, many species of Asclepiads, Aztecia, Gymnocalycium, Alstromeria, Euphorbia, and Ferocactus, plus two fine examples of Welwitschia mirabilis from Namibian deserts.

from wikipedia.org
images from letsgoseeit.com

Kyoto Gosho Imperial Palace Garden

2008-09-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

The Kyoto Imperial Palace (, Kyōto Gosho) is an imperial palace of Japan, though the Emperor of Japan is not in residence. The Emperor has resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace since 1869 (Meiji Restoration) and ordered the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace in 1877.

Today the grounds are open to the public, and the Imperial Household Agency hosts public tours of the buildings several times a day.

The Kyōto Imperial Palace is the latest of the imperial palaces built at or near its site in the north-eastern part of the old capital on Heiankyo after the abandonment of the larger original Heian Palace (, daidairi) that was located to the west of the current palace during the Heian Period. The Palace lost much of its function at the time of the Meiji Restoration, when the capital functions was moved to Tokyo in 1869. However, the Taisho and Showa Emperors still had their coronation ceremonies at Kyōto Gosho.

The buildings and grounds

The palace is situated in the Kyōto Gyoen (, kyōto gyoen), a rectangular enclosure 1.3 km north to south and 0.7 km east to west which also contains the Sento Imperial Palace gardens. The Gyoen dates from the early Edo Period when the residence of high court nobles were grouped close together with the Palace and the area walled. When the capital was moved to Tokyo, the residences of the court nobles were demolished and most of Kyōto Gyoen is now a park open to the public.

The Imperial Palace has been officially located in this area since the final abandonment of the Daidairi in late 12th century. However, it was already much earlier that the de facto residence of the emperors was often not in the Inner Palace (dairi of the original Heian period palace, but in one of the temporary residences (, sato-dairi) in this part of the city and often provided to the emperor by powerful noble families. The present palace is a direct successor - after iterations of rebuilding - to one of these sato-dairi palaces, the Tsuchimikado Dono (, tsuchimikadodono) of the Fujiwara clan. The Palace, like many of the oldest and most important buildings in Japan, was destroyed by fire and rebuilt many times over the course of its history. It has been destroyed and rebuilt eight times, six of them during the 250-year-long peace of the Edo Period. The version currently standing was completed in 1855, with an attempt at reproducing the Heian Period architecture and style of the original Dairi of the Heian Palace.

The Palace Grounds include a number of buildings, along with the Imperial Residence, or dairi. The neighboring building to the north is the sentou or residence of the retired Emperor, and beyond that, across Imadegawa Avenue, sits Doshisha University. The Imperial Household Agency maintains the building and the grounds. They also run public tours, requiring a passport or Alien Registration Card and at least 20 minutes advance notice before allowing foreign visitors into the Imperial Palace. [Note: "Visiting Procedures for Foreigners -- Kyoto Imperial Palace". Retrieved on 2007-09-12.]

The main building on the Palace Grounds includes, among other halls, the Shishinden (Hall for State Ceremonies), Seiryōden (lit. 'cool, refreshing hall'), Kogosho (Court Room), Ogakumonsho (Imperial Study or Library), and a number of residences for the Empress, high-ranking aristocrats and government officials.

The main gate on the front, south, side of the Palace has a cypress-wood roof, and is supported by four pillars. This gate would have been used on the rare occasions of the Emperor welcoming a foreign diplomat or dignitary, as well as for many other important ceremonies of the State. To the sides lies a fence separating the inner areas from the general Palace Grounds, and just past this main gate is a second gate, painted in vermillion and roofed in tile, which leads to the Shishinden, the Hall for State Ceremonies. The Shishinden was used for such important ceremonies as the coronation of an Emperor and installation of a Crown Prince. It is 33 by 23 meters in size, and features a traditional architectural style, with a gabled and hipped roof. On either side of its main stairway were planted trees which would become very famous and sacred, a cherry (sakura) on the eastern, left side, and a tachibana tree on the right to the west.

The center of the Shishinden is surrounded by a hisashi , a long, thin hallway which surrounded the main wing of an aristocrat's home, in traditional Heian architecture. Within this is a wide open space, crossed by boarded-over sections, leading to the central throne room. The Throne itself, called takamikura , sits on an octagonal dais, five meters above the floor, and could be separated from the rest of the room by a curtain. The sliding door that hid the Emperor from view is called kenjou no shouji , and had an image of 32 Chinese saints painted upon it, which became one of the primary models for all of Heian period painting.

The Seiryōden sits to the west of the Shishinden, facing east. It, too, has a hipped and gabled roof, and is comprised primarily of cypress wood. Originally a place where the Emperor would conduct his own personal affairs, the Seiryouden was later used for various gatherings and meetings as well. In the center is an area where the Emperor would rest, and on the east side of the hall, an area of two tatami was set aside for dignitaries and aristocrats to sit. Here was where the Emperor could conduct formal affairs. On the north side of the hall was an enclosed area where the Emperor would sleep at night; later, Emperors began to use the official residence. The west side was set aside for the Emperor's breakfasts, and also contained the lavatories, while the south side was used by the keeper of the Imperial Archives. This area contained paintings by the masters of the Tosa school, and just outside, various rare bamboos were planted.

The Palace's Suzaku-mon Gate is walking distance from JR Nijo Station.

from wikipedia.org
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Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

2008-09-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens are located on 47 acres (19 hectares) in Fort Bragg, California, USA between California's Highway One and the Pacific Ocean. It includes canyons, wetlands, coastal bluffs, and a closed-cone pine forest.

The Gardens were founded in 1961 by Ernest and Betty Schoefer. In 1992, the California Coastal Conservancy purchased the Gardens and transferred them to the Mendocino Coast Recreation and Park District. They are now operated as a nonprofit organization. Collections include: Camellia Collection, Coastal Bluffs, Dahlia Garden, Fern Canyon, Heather Garden, Heritage Rose Garden, North Forest, Pacifica Iris Collection, Perennial Garden, Tender Rhododendrons, Vegetable Garden and Woodland Garden, and over 80 wild mushroom varieties.

from wikipedia.org
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Stockwood Park

2008-09-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

Stockwood Park is a large urban park in Luton, Bedfordshire near to Junction 10 of the M1 motorway and is acclaimed for its period formal gardens, leading crafts museums and extensive golfing facilities.

Museums

Stockwood Craft Museum is housed in the 18th century stables of the former Stockwood House and the setting is well suited to the displays of rural crafts and trades which give visitors a flavour of life in Bedfordshire before the industrial revolution.

The collection of rural crafts and trades on display at Stockwood Park Museum was amassed by T W Bagshawe and is one of the finest regionally based collections in the country.

Stockwood Park is also home to the Mossman Collection of horse-drawn vehicles. The collection of over 50 vehicles shows the development of horse drawn road transport in Britain from Roman times up to the 1930s.

History

The park was originally the estate and grounds to Stockwood house, which was demolished in 1964.

When Stockwood house was built in 1740 by John Crawley, the grounds were laid out in a fashion befitting one of Bedfordshire’s leading landowners. The enclosed walled gardens provided shelter for growing fruit and vegetables for the house. One of the walled gardens now displays a series of gardens illustrating the changing styles of gardening through the ages.

Gardens

The Medieval Garden (12th to 15th century) shows herbs and plants grown for medicinal, cookery and dyeing uses. The 16th century garden is laid out in a knots, a typical feature of the Elizabethan garden. The knots were planted out with germander, hyssop and box with the open spaces filled with brick dust or crushed shells to contrast the greenery.

Clipped hedges and urns decorate the small formal Dutch Garden, replicating those designed by William Kent for Alexander Pope’s garden at Twickenham and the Wilderness Garden at Great Lindford Manor.

English 17th century gardens were heavily influenced by Dutch, French and the Italian styles. The Italian Garden is centered around a well head that once stood in front of Stockwood House.

The Victorian era was a time when plant collectors travelled the world in search of rare and exotic species and styles. Rock gardens and formal flower bedding schemes were also popular, decorated with a bright and showy variety of half-hardy plants. The invention of the practical mowing machine in the 1830s made lawns easier to manage and by 1860 were an essential part of garden equipment.

Stockwood is one of the few places where visitors can enjoy the work of international artist, Ian Hamilton Finlay outside his native Scotland. The Improvement Garden is a classical garden with sculptures full of allusions to ancient Greece and Rome.

Football, rugby, and golf facilities are available.

from wikipedia.org
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Torosay Castle and Gardens, Scotland

2008-09-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

Torosay is a spectacular 150 year old Scottish baronial style castle surrounded by magnificent and unique gardens, just a mile from the ferry pier at Craignure on the south- east of the Isle of Mull. Connected by its very own narrow gauge steam railway, the castle and gardens have become a ‘must see’ attraction for visitors to Argyll and the Isles alike. History and garden lovers are particularly drawn to Torosay, although any visitor can’t fail to have their breath taken away by the spectacular setting of this unique part of Scotland.

FACILITIES

Torosay Castle has a tea-room which is open every day serving light snacks and refreshments, and a shop selling not only souvenirs of your visit but also the work of local craftspeople. For the children and within the gardens there is an Adventure Playground. Free coach and car parking is situated near the entrance to the gardens. Two cottages set in beautiful tranquil surroundings are available for holidays whereas the principal floor of Torosay Castle itself, along with the Gardens, is an elegant venue for concerts, talks, seminars, functions and weddings.

TOROSAY FARM

Torosay is very proud of its farming activities, and if you're lucky you may be able to say hello to some of the natives - our herd of pedigree highland cattle, which sometimes graze in the fields near the castle. These magnificent animals are always a pleasure to see, as is the sight of the shepherd using his collie dogs to herd our flocks of cheviot and blackface sheep.

from torosay.com
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Generalife Garden

2008-09-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

The Palacio de Generalife (Arabic: Jannat al-'Arif - Architect's Garden) was the summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid sultans of Granada.

The palace and gardens were built during the reign of Muhammad III (1302-1309) and redecorated shortly after by Abu I-Walid Isma'il (1313-1324).

The complex consists of the Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Water Channel or Water-Garden Courtyard), which has a long pool framed by flowerbeds, fountains, colonnades and pavilions, and the Jardín de la Sultana (Sultana's Garden or Courtyard of the Cypress). The former is thought to best preserve the style of the medieval garden in Al-Andalus. Originally the palace was linked to the Alhambra by a covered walkway across the ravine that now divides them. The Generalife is one of the oldest surviving Moorish gardens.

The present-day gardens were started in 1931 and completed by Francisco Prieto Moreno in 1951. The walkways are paved in traditional Granadian style with a mosaic of pebbles: white ones from the River Darro and black ones from the River Genil.

from wikipedia.org
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Kenroku-en Garden

2008-09-24T14:47:00.001-07:00

Kenroku-en ( Six Attributes Garden), located in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, is an old private garden developed from the 1620s to 1840s by the Maeda clan, the daimyo who ruled the former Kaga Domain.

Along with Kairaku-en and Koraku-en, Kenroku-en is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. It is open year-round during daylight hours and famous for its beauty in all seasons; an admission fee is charged.

The garden is located outside the gates of Kanazawa Castle where it originally formed the outer garden, and covers 114,436.65 m² (over 25 acres). It began in 1676 when the 5th lord Maeda Tsunanori moved his administration to the castle and began to landscape a garden in this vicinity. This garden was, however, destroyed by fire in 1759. Its restoration was begun in 1774 by the 11th lord Harunaga, who created the Emerald Waterfall (Midori-taki) and Yugao-tei, a teahouse. Improvements continued in 1822 when the 12th lord Narinaga created the garden's winding streams with water drawn from the Tatsumi Waterway. The 13th lord Nariyasu subsequently added more streams and expanded the Kasumi Pond. With this, the garden's current form was complete. The garden was opened to the public on May 7, 1874.

The garden was named by Matsudaira Sadanobu at the request of Narinaga. Its name was derived from the "Chronicles of the Famous Luoyang Gardens" , a book by the Chinese poet Li Gefei , and stands for the six attributes of a perfect landscape: spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, waterways, and panoramas.

Kenroku-en contains roughly 8,750 trees, and 183 species of plants in total. Among the garden's points of special interest are

the oldest fountain in Japan, powered by the difference in heights of two ponds

Yugao-tei, a teahouse, the oldest building in the garden, built 1774

Shigure-tei, a rest House that was originally built by the 5th lord Tsunanori, reconstructed at its present location in 2000

Karasaki Pine, planted from seed by the 13th lord Nariyasu from Karasaki, near Lake Biwa.

Kotoji-tōrō, a stone lantern with two legs, said to resemble the bridge on a koto. This lantern is emblematic of Kenroku-en and Kanazawa.

Flying Geese Bridge (Gankō-bashi), made of eleven red stones, laid out to resemble geese in a flying formation

Kaiseki Pagoda, said to have been donated to the Maeda by Toyotomi Hideyoshi

In winter, the park is notable for its yukitsuri — ropes attached in a conical array to carefully support tree branches in the desired arrangements, thereby protecting the trees from damage caused by heavy snows.

from wikipedia.org
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McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

2008-09-24T08:38:00.001-07:00

The McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, also known as the Redding Arboretum, opened on May 30, 2005, and covers 300 acres (120 hectares), including 200 acres (80 hectares) of undeveloped arboretum and 20 acres (8 hectares) of botanical garden) that span the Sacramento River.

The Park began in the mid 1980s when three Redding museums began talks to construct a museum complex on 60 acres (24 hectares), and gradually took shape through the mid 1990s. The McConnell Arboretum & Gardens opened in 2005, and currently consist of 20 acres (8 hectares) of gardens and 200 acres (80 hectares) of arboretum, with views of Shasta valley mountains to the west, the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay to the east, and the environment along the banks of the Sacramento River, with valley oaks and native vegetation. Turtle Bay Exploration Park is now restoring an additional 340 acres (140 hectares) of riparian habitat located on both sides of the Sacramento River, removing invasive species and re-establishing native vegetation in woodland, grasslands, seasonal wetlands, and valley oak groves.

Principal gardens include the Mediterranean Climate Gardens (Mediterranean Basin, South Africa, Chile, southern and western Australia, and California west of the Sierra Nevada), and other gardens including a children's garden, butterfly garden, and specialty gardens.

from wikipedia.org
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Luther Burbank Home and Gardens

2008-09-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

Luther Burbank Home and Gardens (1 acre) is a city park containing the former home, greenhouse, gardens, and grave of noted American horticulturist Luther Burbank (1849-1926). It is located at the intersection of Santa Rosa Avenue and Sonoma Avenue in Santa Rosa, California, in the United States. The park is open daily without charge; a fee is charged for guided tours. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark as well as a California Historical Landmark (#234).

Burbank lived in Santa Rosa for more than 50 years, and performed the bulk of his life's work at this location. From 1884 to 1906 he lived in this park's Greek Revival house; he then moved next door to a house that no longer exists. After Burbank's death in 1926, his widow Elizabeth moved back to the house, where she remained until her death in 1977.

The gardens include many of Burbank's horticultural introductions, with collections of cactus, fruit trees, ornamental grasses, medicinal herbs, roses, and walnuts. Most plants are labeled with botanic and common names. The garden's greenhouse was designed and built by Burbank in 1889; Burbank's grave is nearby.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

from wikipedia.org
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Lotusland

2008-09-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Commercially, the name Lotusland (15 ha / 37 acres), also known as the Ganna Walska Lotusland Estate, is used for a non-profit botanical garden located in Montecito, California, USA. Walking tours are 1½ to 2 hours long. The gardens were created by Madame Ganna Walska (1887?-1984), an opera singer, who owned the property as a private residence from 1941 until her death. It contains a number of excellent gardens, and is well regarded for its cycad collection.

Blue garden

Featuring plants with silvery to blue-gray foliage, including Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus libani var. atlantica 'Glauca'), Chilean wine palms (Jubaea chilensis), blue fescue (Festuca ovina var. glauca), Senecio mandraliscae, Mexican blue palm (Brahea armata), Queensland kauri (Agathis robusta), bunya-bunya (Araucaria bidwillii), hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) and two camphor trees (Cinnamomum camphora).

Bromeliads

Here bromeliads cover the ground between large coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia). Other notable plants include a branched pygmy date palm (Phoenix roebelinii), Trithrinax brasiliensis palms and giant ponytail palms (Beaucarnea recurvata).

Butterfly garden

Featuring varieties of flowering plants that support butterflies and other insects.

Cactus garden

Featuring a collection of columnar cacti begun in 1929 by Merritt Dunlap. Over 500 plants, representing about 300 different species of cacti in geographically-organized groups. Notable specimens include species of Opuntia from the Galapagos Islands, Armatocereus from Peru and a complete collection of the genus Weberbauerocereus. Accent plants include Fouquieria columnaris (boojum tree), dry-growing bromeliads and several Agave species.

Cacti and euphorbias

A collection of cacti and euphorbias, including a mass of golden barrel cacti (Echinocactus grusonii) and large, weeping Euphorbia ingens.

Cycad garden

Thought to be the most complete collection of cycads in any public garden in the United States, Lotusland has over 400 mature specimens of cycads, with ten of the eleven living genera and more than half of the known species represented.

Fern garden

Featuring many types of ferns, such as Australian Tree Ferns (Sphaeropteris cooperi) and giant staghorn ferns (Platycerium). Other shade-loving plants such as angel trumpet tree (Brugmansia), calla lily (Zantedeschia), clivia hybrids and a collection of Hawaiian Pritchardia palms are present.

Japanese garden

A small Shinto shrine surrounded by Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica), Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens cv. 'Santa Cruz'), a wisteria arbor, Japanese Maples (Acer palmatum), camellias, azaleas and several species of pine pruned in the Niwaki style.

Orchards

Parterre

Formal planting beds and brick walkways with two central water features. Plantings include hedges, floribunda roses, and day lilies.

Succulent garden

A variety of succulents including Madagascar Palm (Pachypodium lamerei), Aeonium, Fouquieria, Kalanchoe, Echeveria, Haworthia, Yucca and Sansevieria.

Topiary

Featuring a topiary clock 25 feet (8 m) in diameter, bordered by Senecio mandraliscae; a boxwood maze; and a "zoo" of 26 topiary animals, including a camel, gorilla, giraffe and seal. Other frames are shaped as chess pieces and geometric shapes.

Tropical garden

Featuring orchid cacti (Epiphyllum), gingers (both Alpinia and Hedychium) and bananas both ornamental (Ensete) and edible (Musa).

Water garden

Includes several species and cultivars of Indian lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) and water lily (Nymphaea, Euryale, Nuphar, Victoria) and also bog gardens featuring taro (Colocasia esculenta), ornamental sugar cane (Saccharum cv.) and papyrus.

from wikipedia.org
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Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden

2008-09-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden 127 acres (51.4 ha) is an arboretum, botanical garden, and historical site nestled into hills near the San Gabriel Mountains, at 301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA. It is open daily during business hours, for a fee.

The site's modern history began in 1875 when Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin purchased Rancho Santa Anita and constructed its buildings and grounds. The arboretum itself began in 1947 with California and Los Angeles jointly purchasing 111 acres (44.9 ha) to create an arboretum around the Baldwin site. By 1949, the first greenhouse had been constructed and the site's plants inventoried. In 1951, the first 1,000 trees were planted, and in 1956 the arboretum was opened to the public. Ongoing construction of gardens and greenhouses took place during the 1950s and 1960s, and in 1975-1976 the Tropical Greenhouse was opened and the Prehistoric and Jungle Garden completed. Construction and renovation of both greenhouses and gardens has continued to this day.

The arboretum's plants are grouped by geography with gardens for South American, Mediterranean, South African, Australian and Asiatic-North American plants. Other displays include the Aquatic Garden, Meadowbrook, Demonstration Home Gardens, Garden for All Seasons, Prehistoric and Jungle Garden, Native Oaks, Herb Garden, and the Palm and Bamboo collection. In addition, the arboretum is home to a flock of some 200 peafowl, which are descendants of original birds imported by Baldwin from India in about 1880 (the peafowl is a symbol of the city of Arcadia). Peafowl can also be found throughout neighborhoods surrounding the arboretum.

Numerous movies were filmed at the arboretum including portions of two Jurassic Park movies and Anaconda.

from wikipedia.org
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Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

2008-09-18T07:09:00.002-07:00

Living Desert Zoo and Gardens is a desert botanical gardens and a zoo located at 47-900 Portola Avenue, Palm Desert, California. They are open daily with an admission fee of about $12 for adults (2007).

The gardens were established in 1970 as a 360 acre (1.46 km²) wilderness preserve by the Palm Springs Desert Museum. By 1974 the gardens housed a Kit Fox, tortoises, lizards, and two Bighorn Sheep, and in 1974-75 the Mojave Garden was built, a replica of the high California desert. Additional facilities have gradually been constructed, including greenhouses and a number of built landscapes, as well as animals including Rhim Gazelles (1981); mountain lions, bobcats and badgers (1993); cheetahs and warthogs (1995); model trains (1998); giraffes and ostriches (2002). Opened November 10, 2007 the Amphipbians on the Edge exhibit shows a variety of different species of frogs, toads and salamanders.

Today, the gardens claim to be the only American zoo and garden dedicated solely to the deserts of the world, and provide environmental education, native wildlife rehabilitation, plant propagation and captive breeding of both native and African species including the area's iconic bighorn sheep. Their unique meerkat exhibit served as inspiration to Walt Disney Studios animators in the development of "Timon", The Lion King's comic meerkat character.

The holiday season signals the start of the zoo's "WildLights" celebration in which more than 275,000 miniature lights illuminate animated holiday scenes. It is also the site of one of the world's largest LGB model railroad layouts; the layout includes the world's longest model trestle span.

Of particular interest are the re-creations of a variety of desert environments. The North American desert gardens include:

Mojave Desert–Joshua Tree area and East Mojave (Cima Dome)
Chihuahuan Desert — south of Big Bend, Texas and into Mexico
Sonoran Desert — foothills of Sonora (Sonora, Mexico); Yuma Desert (south-central Arizona); Vizcaíno Desert (central Baja)
Colorado Desert – Upper Colorado (represents 2,000-3,000 ft. elevation); Palm Oasis; Cahuilla Ethnobotanic Garden; Lower Colorado; Sonoran Pond (a desert riparian area)

Specialized gardens include:

Agave Garden – agaves from throughout the Western Hemisphere
Aloe Garden – African aloes
Aviary Oasis – Coachella Valley palm oasis set around walk in aviary
Barrel Cactus Garden – Ferocactus species
East African Garden – Large collection of native African plants and trees, one of the best collection of African plant species in North America
Euphorbia Garden – African euphorbias
Hummingbird Garden – plants that attract hummingbirds
Johnston Cactus Garden – various cacti
Madagascar Garden – native plants found only on Madagascar
Mallow Garden – small collection of mallows
McDonald Butterfly and Wildflower Garden – plants that attract migrating butterflies
Mexican Columnar Cactus Garden – tall column cacti collected from around the desert southwest
Ocotillo Garden – nine of twelve known ocotillo species
Opuntia Garden – various chollas and prickly pears
Palm Garden – over fifty species of palms from around the world, several hundred palm trees in all
Primitive Garden – plants from the Jurassic period, cycads and ferns
Sage Garden – Salvia species
Sheep Food Garden – plants that are food sources for bighorn sheep
Smoke Tree Garden – smoke trees in natural wash setting
Sonoran Arboretum – trees from the Sonoran Desert in garden setting
Wortz Demonstration Garden – Southwest landscape design
Yucca Garden – yucca species

from wikipedia.org
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Leaning Pine Arboretum

2008-09-18T07:09:00.001-07:00

The Leaning Pine Arboretum is located on five acres at the north end of the California Polytechnic State University campus in San Luis Obispo, California, USA.

Collections are arranged primarily by nativity and feature a diverse array of trees, shrubs, and other landscape plants appropriate for California's Central Coast area. The gardens display hundreds of unique and intriguing plants primarily from the world's five mediterranean climate regions: Australia, California, Chile, the Mediterranean basin, and South Africa. The arboretum also has a New Zealand garden, a Dwarf and Unusual Conifer garden, a Formal garden, and displays of cycads, palms, and numerous succulents.

Visitors are always welcome. The arboretum is open year 'round. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except academic holidays. There is no admission fee. Because plants change with the seasons, you are encouraged to return often to enjoy the many and varied highlights and vistas. The Leaning Pine Arboretum is a living laboratory of plants for all to enjoy.

from wikipedia.org
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Jensen Botanical Gardens

2008-09-18T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Charles C. Jensen Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens located at 8520 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Carmichael, California. They are open during the daylight hours without charge. The gardens exhibit a variety of flora including camellias, dogwoods, azaleas, and rhododendrons.

from wikipedia.org
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Hakone Gardens, Saratoga, California

2008-09-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

Hakone Gardens is a traditional Japanese garden in Saratoga, California, USA. It claims to be the oldest Japanese-style residential garden in the Western Hemisphere. Notable features include a bamboo garden, a Zen garden, a strolling garden (the Hill and Pond Garden), tea houses, and the Cultural Exchange Center, a replica of a 19th century Japanese home and storefront.

In 1916, two San Francisco arts patrons, Oliver and Isabel Stine, intending to build a summer retreat, purchased the 18 acres (73,000 m2) site on which Hakone now stands. Inspired by her trips to Japan, Isabel Stine modeled the gardens upon (and named them after) Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. She hired Japanese landscape artists and architects to design the gardens and the Upper "Moon Viewing" House. More buildings were added in later years by Stine and by subsequent owners. In 1966, the City of Saratoga purchased Hakone Gardens, then in disrepair, in order to protect it. The Hakone Foundation, a non-profit organization, was established in 1984 to restore and enhance the gardens independently of public funding. The gardens are open to the public and the various community facilities are often used for cultural events.

Film History

Hakone Gardens was a filming location for the movie Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).

from wikipedia.org
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Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco

2008-09-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

The Conservatory of Flowers is a large botanical greenhouse in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, constructed in 1878. It houses an important collection of exotic plants. It is the oldest building in Golden Gate Park and the oldest municipal wooden conservatory remaining in the United States. It is also one of the first municipal conservatories constructed in the country. For these distinctions and for its associated historical, architectural, and engineering merits, the Conservatory of Flowers is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historic Places, is a San Francisco Landmark, and is a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Architectural Description The Conservatory of Flowers is an elaborate Victorian greenhouse with a central dome rising nearly 60 feet (18 m) high and arch-shaped wings extending from it for an overall length of 240 feet (73 m). It sits atop a gentle slope overlooking Conservatory Valley. The structural members are articulated through one predominant form, a four-centered or Tudor arch. The Conservatory of Flowers consists of a wood structural skeleton with glass walls set on a raised masonry foundation. The entire structure has a shallow E-shaped plan that is oriented along an east-west axis. The central 60-foot (18 m) high pavilion is entered through a one-story, glassed-in vestibule with a gable roof on the south side of the pavilion. Flanking the rotunda to the east and west are one-story, symmetrical wings framed by wood arches. Each wing is L-shaped in plan, with cupolas adorning the intersection of the two segments. The octagonal pavilion supports an arched roof that is, in turn, surmounted by a clerestory and dome. The clerestory is supported by eight, free-standing, wood-clad, cast iron columns located within the rotunda and grouped in pairs. Projecting from the pavilion roof on the east, west, and south elevations are dormer windows with peak roofs. Between major arched structural framing members are wood muntins that hold the glass lights on their sides. The lights are lapped one over one another like shingles and follow the curve of the arches. The construction of each arch is aesthetically appealing in its simplicity, but also structurally clever in that it takes maximum advantage of wood as a building material while overcoming its inherent structural shortcomings. From a structural perspective, the arch design utilizes the mechanical properties of the material. Wood is strongest along the length of the grain and weakest along the end grain. The use of short arch components with shallow radii minimized the amount of weaker end grain exposed to structural forces. The assembly of the arch with several small pieces of wood, the shapes of which are identical from arch to arch, is efficient. It allowed the fabricator to set the machines with guides and templates so that cutting the multiple-arch components was a simple task. Furthermore, the design required little material since each individual arch component has only a shallow radius. Moreover, by using relatively narrow widths of lumber, the chance of warping was minimized. Finally, there was an efficiency realized in transportation, as the small size of the arch components allowed them to be easily stored and shipped. The structural wood arches and their method of construction, along with the decorative woodwork and unique lapped glazing, define the character of the Conservatory of Flowers. The major character-defining elements associated with the Conservatory of Flowers consist of ornamental and structural woodwork, including the method of fabrication used for the arches, the lapped glazing system, the ventilation system, and the building’s siting and exterior landscaping.

The material for the conservatory was purchased by James Lick prior to his death in 1876. Lick died before constructing the conservatory on his estate, and it was put up for sale by his trustees. The material was then purchased by a group of prominent San Franciscans who offered it to the City of San Francisco for use in Golden Gate Park. The Parks Commission accepted the gift and hired Lord & Burnham, a greenhouse manufacturing company from New York, to supervise the erection of the structure. Once open, it contained a large variety of rare and tropical plants, including a giant water lily, Victoria Regia, which at the time was the only known specimen in the United States. Historic Context In both Europe and America, the nineteenth century brought increased urbanization and industrialization. In response, city governments began providing city-dwellers with open spaces and natural settings for public use. The profession of Landscape Architecture expanded during the later part of the nineteenth century, and park design became a large part of this new profession’s repertoire. In addition, a significant outgrowth of the need for natural surroundings in urban contexts was an increase in the study of plant sciences during this period, both by professionals and amateurs. A building type called the glasshouse or conservatory took shape in which the city-dweller could view masterpieces of the plant world otherwise unavailable in urban environments. Municipalities and individuals spent a great deal of time and money to construct these building types that became known as “theaters of nature.” Similar conservatories were constructed across Europe, starting in the early 1800s. Perhaps the most well known of these is the Palm Stove House in the Kew Royal Gardens in London. These structures were enjoyed by a broad cross-section of the public. Following European fashions, wealthy Americans began to construct conservatories in the mid-1800s on private estates. James Lick, a wealthy Californian, purchased a conservatory for his Santa Clara Valley estate but died before it could be erected.

from wikipedia.org
Images from flickr users: neefer, sftrajan, Yotowoti, amster girl, judywatt,

Fullerton Arboretum

2008-09-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Fullerton Arboretum is a 10 ha (26 acre) botanical garden with a collection of plants from around the world, located on the northeast corner of the California State University, Fullerton campus in Fullerton, California, USA.

The Arboretum officially was created in 1976, and officially opened in 1979. A centerpiece of the Arboretum is the Heritage House, which was built in 1894 as the home and office of Fullerton's pioneer physician, Dr. George C. Clark. In 1972 the house was moved to what is now the middle of the Arboretum. The restored house now serves as a museum of family life and medical practice of the 1890s.

The Arboretum's garden paths wander through four major collections: Cultivated, Woodlands, Mediterranean and Desert Collections. Highlights include Southern California native vegetation, Rare Fruit Grove, historic Citrus and Avocados, Channel Islands Garden, an extensive Cycad Collection, Conifer Collection, Palm Grove, Community Gardens, and a Children's Garden.

Museums

The Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Museum is located on the grounds of the Fullerton Arboretum, and highlights the region's agricultural history, as well as the contributions of the local Japanese American community and other pioneering farmers. The museum is a collaboration between Fullerton Arboretum and California State University Fullerton.

Heritage House is a historic house museum decorated as a doctor's home and office of the 1890s. The Eastlake-style cottage was built by one of Fullerton’s pioneer doctors, Dr. George Crook Clark, in 1894. The home was moved to the arboretum campus in 1972 to save it from demolition. It was originally located at the corner of Amerige and Harvard (Lemon) in the center of Fullerton. Docents lead tours of the house on weekend afternoons.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr users: Orbitgal, eatingorange, megpi

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden

2008-09-13T04:56:00.000-07:00

The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden 1.3 acres (5,000 m²) is a Japanese garden located on the campus of California State University, Long Beach, in Long Beach, California, USA. It was dedicated in 1981. Ed Lovell, landscape master plan architect for the University, traveled to Japan and took inspiration from the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo before designing the garden.

The garden is closed on Saturdays (when it is often rented out for weddings and receptions) and Mondays.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr users:mark6mauno,thadhogan,Mollivan Jon,aiyah,akonitanaka aka nac

Descanso Gardens

2008-09-13T04:51:00.001-07:00

Descanso Gardens located in La Cañada Flintridge, California is a 25 acre (101,000 m²) camellia forest.

At one time the property of the newspaper magnate E. Manchester Boddy (who owned the Los Angeles Daily News), he ran a commercial Camellia garden at this location (supplying prom boutonnières, for example) until he ceded the site to Los Angeles County in 1953.

The County has further developed the property to include a world-class rosarium, as well as a Japanese tea house, lilac garden, bird sanctuary, xeriscape, and of course a gift shop. They also regularly host professional Camellia shows, chamber music, and weddings. They are busiest however on the Easter weekend, when the tulips are in bloom and eggs are hidden on the central lawn of one acre (4,000 m²).

Boddy House is the original 22-room house built by E. Manchester Boddy, which was sold along with the estate to Los Angeles County in 1953. The house was designed by James E. Dolena in the Hollywood Regency style in 1937.

In 2007, Boddy House was rehabilitated for the 43rd annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design, and decorated in a contemporary re-interpretation of its original Hollywood Regency style. Subsequently, a major grant from the Ahmanson Foundation enabled the addition of a museum-quality Heritage Exhibit, with exhibits about the gardens, Manchester Boddy's life and times, and important donors and volunteers for the Descanso Gardens.

The house is open for docent-led tours on Saturdays and Sundays at noon. The house is also available for rental.

The Carriage House Art Gallery hosts changing exhibits by local artists.

In 2005, David R. Brown, former president of the nearby Art Center College of Design, was appointed executive director of Descanso Gardens

from wikipedia.org

Conejo Valley Botanical Garden, California

2008-09-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

The Conejo Valley Botanic Garden is located in Thousand Oaks, California, USA, in the Conejo Valley 39 miles west of Los Angeles. The Garden contains mostly native species, and displays over 60 types of salvia, of which at least 10 are California native species. The garden also features a rare fruit collection, currently composed of 130 trees of 40 varieties from 35 countries. The garden is 33 acres (134,000 m²) in size, and is maintained by volunteers.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr user techno_chic

The Chavez Ravine Arboretum

2008-09-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

The Chavez Ravine Arboretum, in Elysian Park, just north of Dodger Stadium, at 929 Academy Road, Los Angeles, California, USA contains more than 1,000 varieties of trees from around the world, including what are believed to be the oldest and largest cape chestnut, kauri, and tipu trees in the United States. Admission to the arboretum is free. The Arboretum was founded in 1893 by the Los Angeles Horticultural Society, and planting of rare trees continued through the 1920s. Most of the original trees are still standing. The Arboretum was declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1967.

from wikipedia.org

photos by flickr user Floyd B. Bariscale

How to make a garden look bigger....

2008-09-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Want to make your garden appear bigger? Use this simple garden design trick that combines plant colors to create the perception of a larger garden space.

from about.com

Blake Garden

2008-09-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

Blake Garden (10.9 acres) is a botanical garden located at 70 Rincon Road in Kensington, California, United States. It is a teaching facility for the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning of the University of California, Berkeley. It is also the site of Blake House, the official residence of the President of the University of California. The garden is open to the public during weekdays; no admission fee is charged.

Garden development began in the early 1920s when Mr. and Mrs. Anson Blake of Berkeley sought a new site for their home to make way for the university's proposed football stadium. In 1957 the Blakes deeded their house and garden to the University, and title passed to the University upon Mr. Blake's death in 1962. Five years later, Blake House became the UC President's official residence. The garden includes over 1200 species of established plants laid out within a formal, Italian-style garden with long reflecting pool, water garden, a grotto, a two-sided staircase, as well as an arboretum and views of a Mediterranean garden.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr user chuck b.

Garvan Woodland Gardens

2008-09-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

The Garvan Woodland Gardens 210 acres (850,000 m²) are a botanical garden located at 498 Arkridge Road by the Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA. They are owned by the University of Arkansas and open almost every day during daylight hours, for a fee.

The gardens are situated on a wooded peninsula with 4.5 miles (7 km) of shoreline on Lake Hamilton, across which visitors arrive aboard the Belle of Hot Springs, a restored riverboat. The gardens feature rocky inclines reminiscent of the surrounding Ouachita Mountains, floral landscapes, streams, and waterfalls in a natural woodland setting, plus a Japanese Garden with Japanese maples and tree peonies, a conifer border, and various flower and rock gardens. Its collections display hundreds of rare shrubs and trees, including camellias, magnolias, roses, and over 160 different types of azaleas.

The Gardens were started by Verna Cook Garvan, daughter of Arthur B. and Louise Cook of Malvern, Arkansas. Mr. Cook operated Wisconsin-Arkansas Lumber Co. and the Malvern Brick and Tile Company until his death in 1934. Shortly afterward, Mrs. Garvan assumed control as one of the first female CEO's of a major southern manufacturing business and served in that capacity until her retirement in the 1970s. The garden site was purchased in the 1920s after a clear-cut in about 1915. In 1956, Mrs. Garvan began to develop it as a garden and over the next forty years planted thousands of specimens. Upon her death, Mrs. Garvan left the property to the Department of Landscape Architecture through the University of Arkansas Foundation.

from wikipedia.org

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks

2008-09-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks 86 acres (348,000 m²) is a new botanical garden now taking shape near Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. The site is located at the Fayetteville-Springdale border on Crossover Road (Highway 265), and currently includes seasonal plantings in a small area, a wildflower meadow (1998), a lakeside hiking trail and a self-guided tree identification tour.

The garden's history dates to 1993 with a 2001 master plan. Construction will be undertaken in three phases. Phase 1 will build the garden gateway and entry road, parking area, visitor center, cafe and dining terrace, exhibit gallery, conference room, and 1/3 of the core gardens with 1/2 of the horticulture and maintenance facilities. Phase 2 will create additional gardens, offices, classrooms, boat rental facility, amphitheater, observatory, demonstration gardens, and the remaining core gardens. Phase 3 will add trails, tropical conservatory, and lakeside overlooks, with the western 50 acres (202,000 m²) dedicated to native woodland plant restoration and wayside interpretive stations.

from wikipedia.org

Blue Springs Heritage Center, Arkansas

2008-09-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

The Blue Springs Heritage Center 33 acres (13.4 hectares), formerly the Eureka Springs Gardens, is a historic tourist attraction containing native plants and hardwood trees in a setting of woodlands, meadows, and hillsides. It is located at Highway 62 West, five miles west of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA, and open daily to the public during warmer months for a fee.

Blue Springs has been a tourist attraction since 1948, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places for its associations with the Cherokee people during the Trail of Tears. The springs themselves pour 38 million US gallons (140,000 m³) of water daily into the trout-filled lagoon.

from wikipedia.org

Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona

2008-08-28T03:46:00.001-07:00

The Tucson Botanical Gardens is a collection of 16 botanical gardens located at 2150 North Alvernon Way, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Although the Garden property dates back to the 1920s, when it was the home of Bernice and Rutger Porter, the Tucson Botanical Gardens were founded in 1964 by horticulturist and collector, Harrison G. Yocum, who opened the cactus and palm gardens at his own home to the public. Meanwhile Mrs. Porter was looking for a way to preserve her house and gardens. By the early 1970s, the Tucson Botanical Gardens moved to her property.

from wikipedia.org

Tohono Chul Park, Tucson, Arizona

2008-08-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

Tohono Chul Park is a 49-acre (198,300 m2) nature preserve in Tucson, Arizona, United States.

Park History

In the 1920s, the entire northwest section of Tucson was considered ideal for growing frost-sensitive citrus and date palms. Maurice Reid owned property from Orange Grove Road to Ina Road and planted it with groves of citrus trees. He introduced black date palms and grapefruit to the property that would become Tohono Chul Park. Groves of citrus trees remained even after Samuel W. Seaney subdivided the area in 1931, calling it Catalina Citrus Estates.

Maurice Reid, acting as realtor for Seaney, sold the future site of Tohono Chul Park to John T. deBlois Wack in 1937. Mr. Wack was an avid polo player from Santa Barbara and a friend of the Reverend George Ferguson, pastor of the newly consecrated St. Philip’s in the Foothills Episcopal Church. Following an afternoon spent drinking mint juleps, the Fergusons and young Gene Reid (future namesake of Tucson’s Reid Park Zoo) escorted the Wacks around the property. The Wacks purchased an 80-acre (323,700 m2) parcel for $16,000 – or $200 an acre (4,000 m²).

Later in 1937, a Santa Fe style house was constructed. The house still stands today as the Exhibit House.

The Wacks actually spent little time in Tucson. Gene Reid and Mr. Wack’s father, Henry Wellington Wack, founder and first editor of Field and Stream, acted as house-sitters. By the end of World War II the home had exchanged hands several times. Clifford Goldsmith, creator of the old-time radio series Henry Aldrich, rented the home at one point.

The Foundations of Tohono Chul Park

In 1966, a couple named Richard and Jean Wilson started piecing together patches of the desert that would form the core of Tohono Chul Park, ultimately owning 37 acres (149,700 m²) of the Wacks' original 80 acres (323,700 m²).

The son of a Texas oilman, Richard Wilson is a geologist, trained at Yale and Stanford. With his wife Jean, he came to Tucson in 1962 to teach at the University of Arizona. The Wilsons never occupied the Wacks' old home, but instead offered it to a succession of non-profit organizations as a halfway house or youth residence. It was during the 1970s that the couple was approached several times by developers seeking to purchase the land for commercial development. The couple always refused. In fact, when Pima County condemned a strip along the southern boundary of the property in order to widen Ina Road, Richard Wilson demanded that the county move every saguaro and replant it on their adjacent property.

In 1979 Jean Wilson opened the Haunted Bookshop on Northern Avenue along the eastern edge of the site. Once the bookshop was up and running, the Wilsons began planning trails behind the building and marking the names of the native Sonoran Desert plants with tags. In 1980 they received a citation from the Tucson Audubon Society for saving the desert greenspace and opening it to the public.

The Wilsons then established the non-profit Foundation for the Preservation of Natural Areas in the early 1980s. The purpose of the organization was to promote the conservation of desert regions and to educate the public about arid lands and responsible water use. Over time, demonstration gardens, a re-circulating stream, a geological re-creation of the Santa Catalina Mountains, ramadas and areas with special plantings of arid-adapted vegetation were developed. The Wacks’ original 1937 stuccoed adobe house was carefully renovated in 1984 to provide space for changing art exhibits, a museum shop and administrative offices.

Tohono Chul Park was formally dedicated as a 37-acre (149,700 m²) desert preserve on April 19, 1985. The Wilsons deeded the property to the non-profit foundation, Tohono Chul Park, Inc., in 1988. An 11-acre (44,500 m²) parcel abutting the property on the north was slated for higher density rezoning and offered for sale. With the help of longtime park members, Tohono Chul was able to acquire the property. The final acre (4,000 m²) was added in 1997 with the Haunted Bookshop closed and the land it occupied was donated to Tohono Chul Park.

from wikipedia.org

Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park, Arizona

2008-08-28T03:31:00.001-07:00

The Navajo Nation Zoo and Botanical Park 7 acres (28,000 m²) is a free admission zoo and botanical garden located in Window Rock, Arizona, USA. Set beneath sandstone pinnacles known as The Haystacks, it showcases native animals and plants that relate to Navajo culture, and is the only tribal zoo licensed by U.S. Department of Agriculture. The zoo contains about 30 species of wild animals and birds of prey in natural habitats, almost all of which are native to the Navajo Nation. Its wild creatures include black bear, bobcat, cougar, coyote, elk, gila monsters, rattlesnakes, skunks, and red foxes and grey foxes, as well as cranes, golden eagle, red-tailed hawk, and great horned owls. The botanical park is a native "dwarf forest" of piñon pine and juniper (commonly called "cedar") interspersed with grasslands. Four-winged shadscale is common within the park, as are the non-indigenous Siberian Elms. The park also exhibits a traditional male and female hogan as well as a shadehouse. The zoo recently received an expanded budget and is now a program of the Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife. Future plans include: an expanded herpetological exhibit, a native fish aquarium, a brand new red fox exhibit, and expanded educational opportunities. Group tours can be arranged by contacting the zoo. There is also an "Adopt-an-Animal" program and an annual "Zoo Sponsor Appreciation Day."

from wikipedia.org

Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona

2008-08-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

The Desert Botanical Garden is a 140 acre (20 ha) botanical garden located within Papago Park in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Founded in 1939, the garden now has more than 21,000 plants, including 139 species which are rare, threatened or endangered. Of special note are the rich collections of agave (176 taxa) and cacti (10,350 plants in 1,350 taxa), especially the Opuntia sub-family. The Desert Botanical Garden has been designated as a Phoenix Point of Pride.

from wikipedia.org

Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park

2008-08-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park is an Arizona state park located in Superior, Arizona near Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. It consists of a 323-acre (1.31 km2) botanical collection that includes a wide range of habitats and a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) main loop walking trail. Founded in 1925, the arboretum is the largest and oldest botanical garden in the state of Arizona. It is jointly managed by the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Inc., a 501 c(3) non-profit organization, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State Parks.

from wikipedia.org

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

2008-08-26T09:53:00.001-07:00

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is one of the most visited attractions in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1952, it combines the attractions of a zoo, museum, and botanical garden. Its focus is the plants and animals that live in the Sonoran Desert, and it was a pioneer in the creation of naturalistic enclosures for its animals. The Center for Sonoran Desert Studies, founded in 2005, conducts the educational and scientific functions of the Museum and is a hub for research, education and conservation of the Sonoran Desert. Over 500,000 people visit the museum each year. The ASDM was created by William Carr and Arthur Pack as one of the first naturalistic zoos in the United States.

from wikipedia.org

Arizona Cactus Botanical Garden

2008-08-26T09:49:00.001-07:00

The Arizona Cactus Botanical Garden was a non-profit botanical garden, located at 8 Cactus Lane, Bisbee, Arizona, USA, containing representative samples of over 800 varieties of high desert plant life. It was founded by David Eppele and has been closed since his death on 19 May 2005. The Garden featured cactus and succulents from high deserts of the Americas. All plants were cold-hardy and grown with no supplemental water. Shade frames and greenhouses contained hundreds of plants under study for hardiness and potential as landscape plants in high Southwestern deserts. The Garden's library contained over 2,000 volumes.

from wikipedia.org

The Arboretum at Flagstaff

2008-08-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

The Arboretum at Flagstaff is a 200 acre (80 hectare) arboretum that is home to 2,500 species of drought-tolerant native plants representative of the high-desert Colorado Plateau, home to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. It is located 3.8 miles (6 km) south of U.S. Route 66 on Woody Mountain Road, on the west side of Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. The Arboretum was originally forest and a working ranch, and the home of Frances McAllister in the late 1960’s. In 1981, she began her long-held dream of creating an arboretum when she donated the land and created its endowment. The Arboretum was visited by over 22,000 people in 2007, and in addition to tours of the complex, offers live birds of prey programs from April through October.

from wikipedia.org
images from flickr user Dixie Native

Georgeson Botanical Garden

2008-08-26T04:18:00.001-07:00

The Georgeson Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 117 West Tanana Drive on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. The garden is used for both research and demonstration, and is open to the public during daylight hours, May through September, for a fee. It is part of the Alaska Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The garden was named after Charles Christian Georgeson, USDA Special Agent in Charge of Alaska Investigations as of 1899. In the garden's role as a research facility, its staff test more than 1,000 trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials for hardiness each year, including Alaska native plants and those collected from trips to China, Russia, and Iceland. Georgeson also serves as an official trial garden for the National Hardy Fern Foundation. The garden serves as a location for variety trials of annual flowers, vegetables, herbs, and fruits, and researchers there conduct experiments on new crops for Alaska's conditions, such as peony. The garden's flowering plant collections include Altai violets, begonias, columbines, dahlias, delphinium, fern leaf peony, fernleaf tansy, fuchsias, impatiens, lilies, hardy shrub rose, sunflowers, and sweet peas. Other plants include ferns, herbs, and trial vegetables including corn and tomatoes. Due to its northern location, portions of the garden have permafrost (permanently frozen soil). In the forested areas, permafrost is 6-36 inches (15-91 centimeters) below the surface. In cleared fields the permafrost has receded to 25 feet (7.5 meters) or more.

from wikipedia.org

Noccalula Falls Park

2008-08-26T04:10:00.000-07:00

Noccalula Falls Park is a 250 acre (101 ha) public park located in Gadsden, Alabama.

The falls are located on land once owned by R.A. Mitchell, who gave the site to the city of Gadsden, so that the area could be improved, and everyone could enjoy the majestic falls. Across the street from the falls you will find R.A. Mitchell Elementary School, named in his honor. The main feature of the park is a notable 90 foot (27 m) waterfall with a gorge trail winding through its basin and past caves, an aboriginal fort, an abandoned dam, pioneer homestead, and Civil War carvings. The park also features a petting zoo, mini-golf course, the Gilliland-Reese Covered Bridge (built 1899) and a replica 1863 C. P. Huntington train ride.

The Noccalula Falls Botanical Gardens is an extensive botanical garden displaying over 25,000 azaleas.

Legend

Originally known as the Black Creek Falls, the legend as written by Mathilde Bilbro:

"Long ago, on a mountain summit within sight and sound of a rushing waterfall, lived a great Indian Chief whose young daughter, Noccalula, was famed far and wide for her beauty and lovliness of character. Many gallant braves sought the old chief for the hand of Noccalula, but only one was favored by the girl's father, a rich chief of a powerful neighboring tribe, who had much to offer in exchange: wampum, horses, and blankets. Vainly Noccalula pleaded that her heart was already given to a young brave of her own tribe. But this young warrior, though noted for his skill and valor, possessed little in wordly goods. The old chief refused to listen and ordered his daughter to make ready for the marriage he had arranged. What was a maiden's silly fancy against many horses, much wampum and union with another strong tribe? The girl's lover was driven from the tribe, and a marriage agreement was made with the neighboring chief. The wedding day came and a great feast was prepared. In silence Noccalula allowed herself to be arrayed in festive wedding robes. It was incredible!...To be sold to a stranger by the father she loved! Her chosen lover forever banished! Overcome with grief, she quietly slipped away from the merrymakers during the festivities..the soft rhythmical rush of waters called her...a moment she stood poised upon the brink of the yawning chasm. One leap - and her troubles were over. Heartbroken, the remorseful father gave the great cataract his daughter's name. Since that day the waterfall has been called Noccalula."

Statue

The bronze statue of Noccalula was, at the time of its creation, the first statue of a person jumping off a cliff. The bronze used in the statue was made from pennies collected from local school kids in the mid 1960's.

from wikipedia.org

Mobile Botanical Gardens

2008-08-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

The 100-acre (0.40 km²) Mobile Botanical Gardens were founded in 1974, and are located on Museum Drive in the Spring Hill community in Mobile, Alabama, USA. The Gardens are a blend of cultivated areas and natural habitats, including:

Rhododendron Garden
Camellia Wintergarden
Fern Glade
Fragrance and Texture Garden
Japanese Maple Garden
Herb garden
Longleaf Pine habitat of 40 acres

Collections of hollies, magnolias, roses, and perennials are also of special interest, with birding and nature trail walks a public favorite.

The Rhododendron Garden contains eight collections of approximately 1,000 evergreen and native azaleas. The plantings were newly installed in 2006 within an older azalea garden. The collections include Encore, Harris, Holly Springs, Mobile, National Arboretum Kurumes, Nuccio, Robin Hill, and Southern Indica. This is the most comprehensive rhododendron collection anywhere along the Gulf Coast.

Another area of special note is the Longleaf Pine Habitat, a preserved remnant of the great southern longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem that once dominated the American South. It is an extremely diversified habitat with 49 vascular plant families, 159 vascular plant species, 72 woody species, and 21 naturalized species catalogued in May and June of 2007.

Installed in 2007, the Camellia Wintergarden is a collection of 500 camellias, 350 newly planted, with 75 planted over thirty years ago. The collection contains:

Historical camellias. Those that originated or were introduced to the United States prior to 1920.
Mobile area originations. The greatest concentration of outstanding camellias introductions in the world originated along the central Gulf Coast. Rare re-discovered camellias will be included.
Camellia species. Nowhere else in the world can such a broad spectrum of camellias be grown as in our area. These will include rare, newly discovered Asian species, and hybrids thereof.
Camellia classics. The very best of the best for garden purposes, regardless of age or origin.

Mobile Botanical Gardens is a 501(c)3 non-profit, and funding is mainly through contributions, grants, plant sales, and membership dues. It is open year-round from dawn to dusk, and admission is free.

from wikipedia.org

William Bartram Arboretum

2008-08-26T03:54:00.000-07:00

The William Bartram Arboretum is an arboretum located at 2521 Fort Toulouse Road, near Wetumpka, Alabama, in the United States. Operated by the Alabama Historical Commission, the "William Bartram Arboretum" is a part of the 165 acre (66.8 hectare) Fort Toulouse-Jackson Park at the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers. The Arboretum is a boardwalk and series of paths through wildflower fields, bogs, and forests from the visitor's center to Fort Toulouse, then down to an overlook of the Tallapoosa River. Shrubs and flowers are identified. The Arboretum is named in honor of the 18th century naturalist William Bartram, who visited the area in 1776 while studying local flora and fauna. It is open sunrise to sunset all year long.

from wikipedia.org

Aldridge Gardens

2008-08-26T03:51:00.000-07:00

Aldridge Gardens is a 30 acre (121,000 m²) botanical garden, prominently featuring hydrangeas, located on the former Coxe Estate in Hoover, Alabama, U.S.A..

The gardens were started in 1977 by local nurseryman Eddie Aldridge, who along with his father, found and patented Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake', a double-flowering form of oakleaf hydrangea. In the mid 1990s the gardens were formally dedicated to the public. The site is now managed by a non-profit organization. A new master plan was approved in 1997 to guide the future development of the gardens.

The gardens contain extensive hydrangea plantings, as well as a 7 acre (28,000 m²) lake with walking trails. Public lectures and educational activities are scheduled throughout the year.

from wikipedia.org

Alaska Botanical Garden

2008-08-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

The Alaska Botanical Garden is a 110 acre (44.5-ha) botanical garden located at 4601 Campbell Airstrip Road, Anchorage, Alaska, USA. The garden opened in 1993, is open year-round, and charges admission.

The garden's land consists mainly of spruce and birch forest, of which only about 10% is developed. Wildlife (moose and sometimes bears) are frequently seen within the garden itself. The garden currently includes:

Over 1,100 species of perennials in the Upper and Lower Perennial Gardens (of which some 150 are native to Alaska)
An herb garden
A rock garden with over 350 types of alpine plants
A wildflower walk
The 1.1-mile (1.8-km) Lowenfels Family Nature Trail

from wikipedia.org

Jasmine Hill Gardens in Alabama

2008-08-26T00:17:00.000-07:00

Jasmine Hill Gardens (20 acres) are botanical gardens located on U. S. Route 231 near Wetumpka, Alabama, north of Montgomery, Alabama. The gardens are open to the public most days of the week; an admission fee is charged. (At present the gardens may be temporarily closed.)

The gardens were established in the early 1930s, by Benjamin and Mary Fitzpatrick, and now feature a collection of nearly 40 pieces of Greek statuary, both original and copies. The site includes a reproduction of the ruins of the Temple of Hera at Olympia, Greece, and a separate restored facade as the temple entrance would have appeared in ancient times. Other attractions include fountains, stairways, and hedges.

from wikipedia.org
video from youtube user duyuhearme

Huntsville Botanical Garden in Alabama

2008-08-25T04:56:00.000-07:00

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is a 112 acres (453,000 m²) botanical garden located at 4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, Alabama, near the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. It is open year-round for a fee. The gardens include a seasonal butterfly house, and aquatic, annual, daylily, fern, herb, perennial, rose, and wildflower gardens, as well as a nature path and collection of flowering dogwood trees. Specific sections of the garden are as follows: Central Corridor - with perennial garden, aquatic garden, and bulb and annual garden. Daylily Garden - over 675 cultivars of daylilies. Dogwood Trail - numerous flowering dogwood trees, including a hundred year old dogwood transplanted to the site, along a forest path. Fern Glade - almost 170 species of ferns, including Christmas Fern, Northern Maidenhair Fern, Southern Maidenhair Fern, Sensitive Fern, Royal Fern, and Cinnamon Fern. Herb Garden - 14 theme gardens and a cottage. Nature Trail - paths through an indigenous southeastern lowland forest, with black gum, red maple, sycamore, and sweet gum trees, and undergrowth including Sweet William (Phlox divaricata), wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea), bellflower (Campanula americana), and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). Vegetable Garden - four model gardens for the home gardener.

from wikipedia.org

Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Alabama

2008-08-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a 67.5 acre (273,000 m²) botanical garden located inside of Lane Park at the southern foot of Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama. It is home to some 3,000 different types of plants in 20 different gardens that includes a Japanese garden. With more than 300,000 annual visitors, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens is Alabama's top free-admittance attraction. The gardens includes a garden center that has a library, auditorium, Linn-Henley Lecture Hall, Blount Education Center, Gerlach Plant Information Center, Alabama Cooperative Extension System office, Arrington Children’s Plant Adventure Zone, and a restaurant named "Cafe' de France".

from wikipedia.org

Bellingrath Gardens and Home in Alabama

2008-08-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

The Bellingrath Gardens and Home consists of gardens and a mansion located on the Fowl River in Theodore, a suburb of Mobile, Alabama. They contain 65 acres (26 hectares) and are open daily for a fee. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 19 October 1982.

Gardens

The gardens include a bridal garden, a conservatory, a great lawn, a nature walk, an Oriental garden, a rose garden, a chapel, the Mermaid Pool, Mirror Lake, an observation tower, and a river pavilion where river cruises are provided on the Southern Belle. The garden pathways are composed of flagstone that had been obtained from the old city sidewalks in Mobile, where they had been in place since arriving as ballast in sailing vessels collecting loads of cotton for the mills at Manchester, England. The gardens feature live oaks, camellias, azaleas, roses, and chrysanthemums year round. Plants featured in winter are tulips, snapdragons, pansies, ornamental cabbage and kale, daffodils, poppies, primroses, and many varieties of narcissus. Plants featured in spring include the more than 250,000 azaleas, hydrangeas, Easter lilies, impatiens, salvia, fuchsia, and geraniums. Plants featured in summer are the more than 2000 roses, allamandas, hibiscus, copper plants, begonias, ornamental peppers, bougainvillea, caladiums, coleus, vinca, and marigolds. Plants featured in fall are over 8,000 bedded, potted and cascading chrysanthemums, hibiscus, and copper plants.

History

The property on which the gardens would eventually be constructed were purchased in 1917 as a fishing camp by Walter Bellingrath, President of Mobile's Coca Cola Bottling Plant. Mrs. Bellingrath began developing the gardens with architect George B. Rogers in 1927. The home was completed in 1935, encompasses 10,500 square feet (980 m2) and features hand-made brick salvaged in Mobile from the 1852 birthplace of Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont. Ironwork was obtained from the demolished Southern Hotel (1837), also in Mobile. The home borrows elements of many traditions and eras — a Georgian staircase reminiscent of an English country house, French doors, a Mediterranean courtyard.

Magic Christmas In Lights

Bellingrath Gardens celebrates the Christmas season (the Friday after Thanksgiving through New Years Eve) with a display of over 3 million lights.

from wikipedia.org

Kohan Kashane Hotel

2008-08-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Kohan Kashane is a traditional Yazd ancestral mansion with an attractive small courtyard garden. There is a large iwan, a rectangular pool, flowerbeds and small trees, and typical traditional stucco decoration on the walls. From the garden, a stone staircase leads underground to a rest place cooled by a qanat (an ancient underground irrigation canal). The mansion is now run as a small hotel by its family owners who preserve its traditional features.

from gardenvisit.com

Lion Grove Garden

2008-08-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

Lion Grove Garden was first built in the Zhi Zheng period of the Yuan Dynasty. It was originally part of the Puti Zhengzong Temple. Inside the garden there are many rockeries in the shape of a lion (shizi), hence the name Lion Grove, or Shizi Lin in Chinese. The celebrated painter, Ni Zan, one of the four masters of the Yuan, captured the beauty of the garden in his famous Scroll of Lion Grove Garden, making the garden more renowned than ever. The Qing emperors Kang Xi and Qian Long visited the garden several times and they had a garden built modelled after it in the Imperial Summer Resort in Rehe (Jehol).
Carefully designed, the east part of the garden is decorated with many rockeries while the west part is covered by a vast body of water. The main structures are to the north, with the pavilions and halls all connected to one another by long galleries. Up and down, turning and twisting, these galleries are well-known for their unique format.
After entering by the gate in the southeast corner of the garden complex, one passes the Yan Yu Hall and Xiao Fang Hall (Small Square Hall). In the backyard of Xiao Fang Hall is a plum-blossom-shaped gate, and in the front of the gate are bamboo trees and rockeries, evoking a perfectly framed Chinese painting. To the north of the plum blossom gate is the Pavilion for Pointing to the Cypress which is the main structure of the whole garden. Looking south from the pavilion, one can see an expanse of rockeries with a forest of cypress trees standing high in their midst. To the southwest of the pavilion is Mountain View Mansion and Lotus Hall which, facing the lake, comprise a vantage point where one can admire the lotuses unobstructed. Further west is the Genuine Amusement Pavilion, Stone Boat and Faint Fragrance Dim Shadow Mansion (Anxiang Shuying Lou), all of which line the shore of the nearby lake. Turning south along the porch on the west, one comes to the Flying Waterfall Pavilion which is the highest spot in the garden. Under the pavilion is a hushi limestone rockery of three layers which drops steeply to join a brook at its foot. Further south are the Pavilion for Greeting the Plum Blossoms (Wen Mei Ting) and Double Fragrance Hall of the Immortals which is at the southwest corner of the garden. To its east, the Fan-Shaped Pavilion and the Pavilion of the Memorial Tablet of Wen Tianxiang (a loyal Song official) mark the southern border of the garden.
The specialities of Lion Grove Garden are its miniature mountains and peaks. The miniature mountain in front of Pointing to Cypress Pavilion has the most peculiar formation. Among its peaks, the Sunshine, Moon Rising, Black Jade and Sky Touching all have their own characteristics, with Lion Peak being the highest. Stone paths connecting the grottos and caves, which are located high and low over the mountain, form a labyrinth. The design of each cave and grotto is different and taken together they make up the famous Eighteen Scenes, with the Hall Sleeping on Clouds (Woyun Shi) situated in the middle. Constructed entirely with hushi eroded limestone, this miniature mountain looks grotesque and towering.
from: Classical Chinese Gardens, China Building Industry Press, Beijing

Beijing Olympic Forest Park

2008-08-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

Beijing’s Olympic Forest Park was made for the 2008 Olympic Games. The landscape architecture design was led by Hu Jie, director of the Landscape Planning and Design Institute at the Urban Planning and Design Institute of Tsinghua University. As with many architecture companies in the People’s Republic of China, landscape architecture firms operate as design arms of university departments. The Beijing Olympic Park has an area of 680 hectares and was built between 2003 and 2008. It is at the north end of Beijing’s central axis, inviting comparison with the projection of the Grand Axis in Paris beyond La Defense. The competition-winning idea was to create an Axis of Nature. In accordance with traditional feng shui practice, this involved a hill at the north and a lake to the south. But it was decided that the earthmoving cost would be too high. The hills, woods and water concept is however along the lines of China’s imperial parks – and is very appropriate to Beijing’s climate, by turns very hot, very cold and very dry.
The park was designed to accommodate tennis, archery and hockey events during the 2008 Olympic Games and a great public park, in which only electric vehicles are allowed, after the Games. An expressway which crosses the park has been designed as a ‘green bridge’ ecological corridor over Beijing's Fifth Ring Road. It links the southern and northern parts of the forest park and is intended to be a landmark. The Olympic Forest Park has subway stations, an open air theatre, a lake, and a sophisticated system for bubbling air into the water for purification. In March 2008 Beijing's Olympic Forest Park was awarded 5th IFLA-APR Award for Landscape Architecture.

from gardenvisit.com