Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

As of March 28, 2020, the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden officially has a new name: the California Botanic Garden. There is a new website for the garden.

The goal: A complete collection of California plants

In 1927 the garden’s founder, Susanna Bixby Bryant, stated that her goal was to…”bring together in a comparatively small area as complete a collection of the rich native California plants as can be grown… thereby promoting the general welfare of the people of the state…” This goal continues to this day.

In this 86 acre garden you will find native plants ranging from towering Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), natives of northern California, to creosote shrubs (Larrea tridentata) from the Mojave desert to the oak trees native to this site. And the collection of native plants continues to grow, as well as the test plots planted by nearby college students.

Poppies, the official flower of the State of California, bloom profusely in Spring.

In spring–the best time to visit– the California Botanic Garden is full of color as California poppies (Papaver), native lilacs (Ceanothus), Western redbud trees (Cersis occidentalis), and Barbery (Berberis) burst into bloom.

An interesting, but not immediately obvious, feature of the garden is a stone-tiled path winding through the meadowlands. It is in the shape of a rattlesnake. The head of the snake is shown in this photo, left

native american house at Caklifornia Botanical Garden in Claremont

This native American house is part of an educational site in the California Botanical Garden, which is primarily a teaching facility rather than a place for homeowners to be inspired. Plants are often grown in test plots.

Visit the official website for the times the California Botanic Garden is available to the general public. There is a small fee for admission. After your visit to the garden plan to have lunch at one of the many charming restaurants in nearby Claremont Village.

To preview other Public Gardens in the West, go here