San Francisco Botanical Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden

I recently had the opportunity of visiting the San Francisco Botanical Garden located within Golden Gate Park in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California.  The gardens offer 55 acres of native plantings, landscaped regions and open spaces showcasing over 8,000 different kinds of plants from around the world.  The San Francisco Bay Area's mild temperatures, wet winters, dry summers and famous coastal fog provide a range of climatic conditions that exist in few other botanical gardens and when combined make some of the most ideal growing conditions for a multitude of plants. I enjoyed the experience of observing a vast variety of plants, many which I had never seen before, all in one location.  Come along for the tour!

San Francisco Botanical Garden:  Succulent Garden

There are several collections of gardens to visit including the Mesoamerican Cloud Forest, California Native Garden, Redwood Grove, Succulent Garden and the gardens of Central and South America, Temperate Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Mediterranean region to name just a few.  These plants are mostly unfamiliar to me and I tried to get as many names as I could so bear with me.  I labeled the species that I was able to see tags for.  Feel free to assist if you recognize any of the unlabeled plants.

San Francisco Botanical Garden

These flowers were blooming all over the gardens in November.  I am not sure of the name but is looks like Agapanthus, or Lily of the Nile.  I only know of the blue and white varieties but these were beautiful!

San Francisco Botanical Garden

This attractive yellow flower was blooming profusely in early November.

San Francisco Botanical Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden: Aloe arborescens yellow form (South Africa)

Aloe arborescens is sending up its stalks of yellow blooms in the South Africa collection.

San Francisco Botanical Garden:  How Plants Conserve Water

San Francisco Botanical Garden:  Protea susannae Sugarbush (South Africa)

This magnificent bloom really caught my eye!  Protea is a beautiful winter blooming plant that is native to South Africa.  Each large blossom is made up of hundreds of individual flowers.  Also, Protea's leathery leaves are known to protect the plant from dehydration.  

San Francisco Botanical Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden Aloe arborescens Close Up (South Africa)

Here is a close up of Aloe arborescens (yellow form) along the garden path.

San Francisco Botanical Garden:  Rhopalostylis sapida Nikau Palm (New Zealand)

Rhopalostylis sapida known as Nikau Palm is New Zealand’s only palm making it one of the most easily recognized plants. Nikau Palm produces purple flowers in Spring that are followed by brilliant-red berries which hang from just below the base of the leaves that turn to seeds and are a food source for wildlife.

San Francisco Botanical Garden Cloud Forest

San Francisco Botanical Garden:  Spanish Moss (Cloud Forest)

The Mesoamerican Cloud Forest features plants typical of high elevation plant communities in southern Mexico and Central America.  It was initially planted in 1984 and has matured to represent a typical cloud forest with trees, shrubs, ferns, vines and epiphytes.  As part of a preservation program seeds were collected from rare and endangered cloud forest species from around the globe over a period of thirty years. San Francisco's unique mild and foggy climate allows these plants to grow successfully outdoors.

San Francisco Botanical Garden:  Lagoon and Palms

San Francisco Botanical Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden 

This lovely plant had no tag on it but I believe it is Cordyline australis 'Red Sensation' from researching.

San Francisco Botanical Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden

The gardens are full of these bright pink and orange blooms in November...

San Francisco Botanical Garden

and tropical like foliage.

San Francisco Botanical Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden

Steps and paths meander through this raised lush garden. 

San Francisco Botanical Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden Conservatory of Flowers

In Golden Gate Park the Conservatory of Flowers is the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatory in North America opening to the public in 1879. Declared as a city, state and national historic landmark, the Conservatory remains one of the most photographed and favored attractions in San Francisco.

San Francisco Botanical Garden Conservatory of Flowers

San Francisco Botanical Garden Conservatory of Flowers:  Tropical Rhododendrons (Vireya)

In the greenhouse Tropical Rhododendron (Vireya) is in bloom...

San Francisco Botanical Garden Conservatory of Flowers:  Anthurium

as well as Anthurium.

San Francisco Botanical Garden Conservatory of Flowers:  Aquatic Plants

Water lilies are found in this aquatic garden.

San Francisco Botanical Garden Redwood Grove:  Giant Redwood Sequoiadendron Giganteum

Redwood Grove is one of the many beautiful areas within the San Francisco Botanical Garden.  This century old grove is full of fog-loving towering giants known as Coast Redwoods or Sequoia sempervirens. Giant Redwood represent the tallest living things on Earth and have been drastically reduced by extensive logging during the past 150 years. The coast redwoods at San Francisco Botanical Garden were planted around the turn of the 20th century and are among the oldest trees in the Botanical Garden.  Over the past forty years over 100 species of related plants have been added to create and preserve a typical redwood forest.

San Francisco Botanical Garden

I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour of the San Francisco Botanical Garden.  I found the gardens to be both beautiful and educational and was amazed over the vast diversity of plants from all over the world contained in one location.  The total 1,017 acre Golden Gate Park also includes the Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden, numerous museums, lakes, trails, playgrounds, picnic groves and monuments.

For more information on the San Francisco Botanical Gardens and Conservatory of Flowers visit here.

As Always...Happy Gardening!

Sharing on Today's Flowers and Our World Tuesday.

Author: Lee@A Guide To Northeastern Gardening, Copyright 2014. All rights reserved

Muir Woods National Monument: Photo Journey of the California Redwoods

 

Welcome to Muir Woods National Monument

Muir Woods National Park is a remnant of the ancient redwood forests that blanketed parts of the northern California coast back before the 1800's. William Kent and his wife Elizabeth Thacher Kent bought this land in 1905 in order to protect one of the last untouched areas of redwoods.  To protect the land the Kents donated the land to the federal government and in 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt used the 1906 Antiquities Act to declare the area a national monument which was later named after conservationist John Muir.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods

Muir Woods National Monument is located 12 miles north of the Golden gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. It consists of a 560 acre park with six miles of trails meandering through some of the last remaining redwood forests in the world. 

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods Cathedral Grove

Much of the Northern Hemisphere was covered with Redwood-like trees 150 million years ago.  Climate change caused the numbers or Redwood to decrease drastically leaving only two species in California.  While many of the world's redwoods were lost due to industrialization and nearing extinction the canyon of redwoods in Muir Woods was never logged and remains preserved here today.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods Cathedral Grove

The breathtaking Cathedral Grove represents trees ranging in age from 500 to 800 years with heights up to 258 feet towering towards the sky.  The main attraction of the Muir Woods is the Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) seen here, a relative of the Giant Sequoia which is known for its great heights.  The oldest tree existing in the park is over a remarkable 1,200 years old. 

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods Cathedral Grove

It is a beautiful sight as the rays of sunshine stream down through the canopy of trees into the park.  The lingering fog presents a misty appearance.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods

Many of the redwoods in the park are now petrified after hundreds and thousands of years...

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods

with hues of purple and green ingrained into the wood.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods Petrified Wood

This tree was hollowed out by a fire years ago and has become petrified into stone.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods Petrified Wood

Many remains from the fire can be seen throughout this area in the park.  Wildfires frequently occurred every 20 to 50 years in  this area before fire suppression began in the 1800's. Controlled burning has been established to keep the integrity of the ecosystem alive as fire benefits the forest floor through the recycling of nutrients.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods

Below... the naming of the California redwood is explained.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods

The first written reference to redwoods was from a missionary in October of 1769 as seen above.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods

Beneath the canopy of redwood trees are California big leaf maples, tan-bark oaks,  red alders, Douglas fir and various species of ferns.  Redwood Creek flows through the park while several bridges cross over the calmly moving waters for visitors walking the trails.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods

The inside appearance of a fallen tree can reveal a lifetime of events.  Annual rings and fire scars on this tree can be seen showing the climate record and history of this redwood.  Generally large annual rings are a sign of plentiful rainfall and nutrients and much growth while narrow rings are a sign of stress and struggle for survival.

Muir Woods National Park Redwoods

The redwoods in the park flourish in California's fog belt where and yearly daytime temperatures range between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  During the drier summer months the forest is layered in fog which keeps the park cool and moist year round.  On average the park receives up to 40 inches of rain during the winter months which supports the moisture requirement of the redwoods.

For more information on Muir Woods visit Muir Woods.

Muir Woods National Monument
1 Muir Woods Road
Mill Valley, CA 94941

Author: Lee@A Guide To Northeastern Gardening, Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.  All photos are the property of A Guide to Northeastern Gardening.