Eden Revisited
The bucket list of Northern California public and quasi-public gardens.
Motivated by 1993's Visiting Eden, by Joan Chatfield Taylor and Melba Levick, I decided to maintain a list of public and quasi-public gardens...particularly since several listed in the book are no longer public. This list is in now way exhaustive! I encourage readers to alert TELCS of any that need to be included. And besides, why should bucket lists be limited to exotic nearly out of reach places?
University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum
Location: Santa Cruz
Founding: 1964, by Chancellor Dean E. McHenry
Founding Arboretum Director: Dr. Ray Collett
Emphasis: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, California plant species
Location: Saratoga
Founding: 1911, by James Duval Phelan
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: ?
Emphasis: Decorative gardens in the classical style, fine art, and cultural entertainment
Location: Saratoga
Founding: 1917, by Isabel Stine
Architect: Tsunematsu Shintani
Garden Designer: Imperial gardener, Naoharu Aihara
Emphasis: Japanese contemplative garden
Location: Palo Alto
Founding: 1902, by Edwin Gamble
Architect: C.A. Bates?
Builder: C. A. Bates
Garden Designer: Walter A. Hoff
Emphasis: Relaxed formal garden
Sunset Gardens (closed) See new location below
Location: Menlo Park
Founding: 1951, Sunset Magazine
Architect: Cliff May
Landscape Architect: Thomas Church
Emphasis: Mid-century ranch aesthetic with Pacific Coast plant collections, from Mexico to Canada
Sunset Gardens + Marketplace (at Cornerstone Gardens)
Location: Sonoma
Founding: 2015, Time, Inc.
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: ?
Emphasis: Test garden and kitchen
Location: Sonoma
Founding: ?
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: ?
Emphasis: Retail, gallery of designed gardens
Location: Woodside
Founding: 1915, William Bowers Bourn II
Architect: Willis Polk
Garden Designer: Bruce Porter
Emphasis: Mediterranean formal
Japanese Tea Garden at Central Park
Location: San Mateo
Founding: 1922, City of San Mateo (formerly, the Kohl Mansion property)
Architect: ?
Landscape Architect: Nagao Sakurai
Emphasis: Japanese contemplative, sister city: Toyonaka
Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Garden
Location: San Francisco
Founding: circa 1890s, John McClaren, with subsequent funding by Helen Strybing
Architect: (Helen Crocker Russel Library) Alec Yuill-Thornton, Daniel W.B. Warner, and John Russell Levikow Architects
Landscape Architect: (Helen Crocker Russel Library) Thomas Church; subsequent vignettes, Jean Wolfe (The Jean Wolfe Garden), Ron Lutsko (Meadow Garden)
Emphasis: Mid-century modern
Location: San Francisco
Founding: circa 1894, as part of the California Midwinter International Exposition
Architect: ?
Landscape Architect: Makoto Hagiwara, with subsequent pond design by Nagao Sakuri
Emphasis: Japanese contemplative
Notes: The Japanese Tea Garden offers a unique glimpse into the devastating legacy of Makoto Hagiwara and the 1942 Japanese American internment. For Hagiwara, a descendant of Japanese nobility, anti-sentiment predated internment when he lost concession of the garden between 1900 and 1908. Superintendent John McClaren "humbly" asked for the families return, which suggests that Golden Gate Park was unable to manage the intensive maintenance of tea house and garden. Hagiwara exhibited an unyielding dedication to the garden, including relocating his home on site. Once forced to relocate, J.C. Taylor writes, "The garden was renamed the Oriental Tea Garden and the Hagiwaras' house and family shrine were destroyed" (p.58). Once the war was over, the Hagiwara family returned to operate the garden and tea house until 1972, sans home.
Location: Oakland
Founding: circa 1934, Works Progress Administration
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: ?
Emphasis: Accredited by the American Rose Society
Notes: J.C. Taylor writes, "Morcom is scheduled to be completely refurbished in 1993. The original layout will be retained, since this is a historical landmark, but the design will be much enhanced by new turf, appropriately Italianate benches, and pathways paved in bricks and cobblestones. In addition, plans call for nighttime lighting and a drip irrigation system" (p. 65).
Location: Berkeley
Founding: circa 1933, Works Progress Administration
Architect: Bernard Maybeck ("suggested" design, according to the city's website, above)
Landscape Architect: Vernon M. Dean with rosarian C.W. Covell
Emphasis: Rose collection
University of California Botanical Garden
Location: Berkeley
Founding: circa 1870s (at original location), Dr. Eugene W. Hilgard; formally circa 1890s, E.L. Greene; then circa 1909-1920 (current location)
Architect: ? In 2015, Julia Morgan's Girton Hall (now known as Julia Morgan Hall) is relocated to the garden.
Landscape Architect: ?
Emphasis: Mediterranean climate plant species of over 10,000 types
Location: Berkeley
Founding: 1940, City of Berkeley (verify)
Architect: ?
Landscape Architect: ?
Emphasis: California natives
University of California Blake Garden
Location: Kensington
Founding: circa 1920s, Anita and Anson Blake
Architect: Walter Bliss
Landscape Architect: Mabel Symmes, with her sister, Anita Blake, collaborating
Emphasis: Formal Mediterranean garden
Location: Walnut Creek
Founding: 1971, Ruth Bancroft (property family owned since 1880s)
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: Lester Hawkins (garden layout) and Ruth Bancroft (plant collection)
Emphasis: Succulents, cacti and drought tolerance
Daffodil Hill (closed for 2020)
Location: Volcano
Founding: circa 1850s, "a Dutchman," according to J.C. Taylor; subsequent opening to the public by the McLaughlin family, who bought the property from said Dutchman in 1887.
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: The McLaughlin Family
Emphasis: Spring bulbs
Green Gulch Farm @ the San Francisco Zen Center
Location: Muir Beach
Founding: 1991, property owner, George Wheelwright, donated farm to the Zen Center
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: San Francisco Zen Center
Emphasis: Sustainable farming
Location: Sebastopol
Founding: 1964, Stewart and Audrey Barbara (hybridizing, nursery); 1976, Polo de Lorenzo (business purchase)
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: ?
Emphasis: Demonstration gardens and nursery
Western Hills Nursery, currently operated as Western Hills Garden (closed for 2020)
Location: Occidental
Founding: 1961, Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich
Architect: Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich
Garden Designer: Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich
Emphasis: "almost Japanese," eclectic
University of California Davis Arboretum and Public Garden
Location: Davis
Founding: 1936, "a botany professor;" 2011 consolidation under new name (above), U.C. Davis
Architect: ?
Landscape Architect: Contributors Lawrence Halprin, Ted Osmundson, Mai Arbegast
Emphasis: Historic arboretum, demonstration and research gardens
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
Location: Fort Bragg
Founding: 1961, Ernest and Betty Schoefer
Architect: ?
Garden Designer: Ernest and Betty Schoefer
Emphasis: Coastal garden