Filoli is a country house estate on 654 acres in Woodside, California. There are sixteen acres of beautifully designed formal gardens around the house. In the spring the perennial garden shines with lovely blue delphiniums taking center stage. The…
In the spring, gardeners hope for spring rain “to bring May flowers.” The awakening of new growth on perennials brings hope for flowers. The long-lived peonies come to mind as they grew every year on my grandparent’s farm, reliably blooming every…
The peacock is the iconic symbol of this 127-acre garden. They serve as unofficial greeters whenever one enters. Lucky Baldwin, the owner before it became a county property, imported three pairs from China around 1910. Today the population is around…
Nuccio’s Nurseries roots are firmly established in their Italian American family. The nursery began when Joe and Julius Nuccio began to grow camellias and azaleas in their parent’s backyard in Alhambra, California in the 1930s. The two brothers began…
We visited this free garden in Palo Alto, California when we read it was added to the American Camellia Society Camellia Trail. We were not disappointed. It is the former home and garden of Elizabeth Gamble, the granddaughter of the founder of…
In the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in La Cañada Flintridge, north of Los Angeles, California is the largest collection of camellias in North America. Descanso’s 150 acres are filled with native California plants, a rose garden, flowering…
The Huntington Botanical Garden was named an International Camellia Garden of Excellence in 2001 by the International Camellia Society because it has one of the most comprehensive collections of camellias in North America. There are 60 species and…
This little gem is located in Pasadena, California originally designed in the mid 1930s. The garden has recently been restored, remaining true to its original pre-war design. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The garden is well…
Flowers in my grandmother's garden are some of my first memories as a toddler—and taking walks with my grandfather as he told me the names of trees and bushes—so a home garden community of plants and birds has always been essential to our family. We…
Nestled within the thirty acres of one of the most beautiful zoos sits a small parcel of land dedicated to education, conservation and promotion of gardening at the Santa Barbara Zoo. The idea of an onsite garden had been bounced back and forth among…
The Archives of American Gardens includes the business records of a number of nurseries and seed companies that operated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries including W. Atlee Burpee & Company. The collection consists of…
Initially, a group of Lafayette Community members came together to form the Local Foods Group under the inspired leadership of local “green” activists. From 2008 through 2011 the group searched Lafayette for an appropriate site to establish a…
Note from the Artist and founder:“Before you read the story of the Please Touch Garden I would like to dedicate this story with a thank you to the many that helped make it possible. I did pour my heart into making the Please Touch Community Garden a…
When the abandoned gas station that had been owned by artist Vickie Jo Sowell’s long-time neighbor Big Daddy Green burned down in 2001, the City of Emeryville asked her what she thought should be done with the site. Big Daddy's Complete Rejuvenating…
Founded in 1876, W. Atlee Burpee & Company grew to be the largest seed company in the world by the early twentieth century. In 1924 the company advertised a contest in its Seed Annual asking customers to write in about “What Burpee’s Seeds Have…
