The grounds of Woodside’s Filoli Historic House and Gardens are worth exploring at any time of year. (And we’ve got 11 suggestions for what to see while you’re there.) But there are other noteworthy public gardens to explore across the Bay Area, too. Here are five possibilities.
Ruth Bancroft Garden
The Ruth Bancroft Garden is a celebration of succulents and other dry-land plants. It was established in 1971 on a prolific family fruit and nut orchard in Walnut Creek, when Ruth Bancroft decided, against the advice of some, to plant her extensive collection of succulents in the ground. The garden now covers 3.5 acres and includes many unique and diverse specimens from around the world as well as California natives.
Details: Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 1552 Bancroft Way, Walnut Creek; www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/. Admission is $5-$12.
UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley
Established in 1890, the Botanical Garden covers 34 acres in what is described as one of the most diverse landscapes in the world. The collection includes more than 10,000 types of plants, many rare or endangered. The plants are arranged geographically into nine regions, from Australasia to South Africa. The garden also offers special events, classes and plant sales, as well as live concerts in its redwood grove amphitheater.
Details: Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily by reservation ($7-$15) at 200 Centennial Drive in Berkeley; https://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/.
Hakone Estate and Gardens
This century-old garden was established by San Francisco philanthropists Isabel and Oliver Stine. Isabel was particularly enamored of Eastern culture and modeled the country home after a Japanese style estate. It is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Cradled in the hills of Saratoga, overlooking Silicon Valley, the garden features 18 acres of beauty and tradition and contains some of the original plantings and fixtures from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Its spring cherry blossoms give way to year-round beauty with a blend of nature and art sharing the space.
Details: Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends through October (the gardens close at 4 p.m. November-February) at 21000 Big Basin Way, Saratoga; www.hakone.com/. Admission is $8-$12.
UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and Botanic Garden
The 135-acre garden and arboretum feature more than 300 collections of plants from Mediterranean climates, including conifers, primitive angiosperms and bulb-forming plant families from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and California – collections that include a eucalyptus grove, acacias and otherworldly proteas.
Details: The arboretum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 1156 High St., Santa Cruz; https://arboretum.ucsc.edu/. Admission is $5-$10.
The Gardens of Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park provides a wealth of recreational and cultural opportunities, but for garden lovers, the three main gardens at the park are what makes the traffic and parking worth all the fuss. The San Francisco Botanical Garden, the Conservatory of Flowers and the Japanese Tea Garden are each worth a day-long visit, but for the ambitious, they can all be visited in a day. And what a visit they are, from the magnificent magnolias of the Botanical Garden to the exotic displays inside the fabulous glass house at the Conservatory and the tranquility and harmony of a Japanese-style garden.
Details: Hours vary by season and garden at Golden Gate Park, 1199 Ninth Ave. in San Francisco. Tickets are available individually ($3-$10) or as a Gardens of Golden Gate Park Pass ($9-$25), which can be used for unlimited visits to all three sites for three days; www.sfbg.org/gggp.
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