Admittedly, visiting a dry, prickly garden in Walnut Creek in the heat of day at the height of summer does not sound that appealing. But I love the desert ecosystem and went anyway. I’m glad I did. The Ruth Bancroft Garden is well established with the perfect combination of trees for shade, a water treatment, and artful beds of succulents, cacti, and Mediterranean plants from all over the world. On the afternoon I visited, there was a continual breeze, lots of shade, and very pleasant. I was surprised to see some plants in bloom, including agave, cacti, and several varieties of trees and bushes. The air hummed with the activities of bees, butterflies, and birds.
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| Ruth's Folley - houses small store and greenhouse. |
Ruth Bancroft started collecting succulents in the 1950s; in 1972 she worked with Lester Hawkins of Western Hills Nursery in Occidental, CA to design the dry garden in Walnut Creek. The three-acre parcel was originally part of the 400 acres of native oak trees that Hubert Howe Bancroft cleared in the 1880s for a fruit and walnut orchard. The garden design is a series of paths and garden beds planted with Ruth’s collection.
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| The pond forms a focal point for the garden. |
The garden has a primitive, primal feel to it – I almost expected a dinosaur to appear around a bed of wild looking plants, or to come swooping in from an opening in the tree canopy. This amused me, but I think it expresses the feeling the garden conveys. Many of the plants are monocots – ancient plants, with simple (but amazing) strategies for conserving water and reproducing. I enjoyed my self-guided tour, but plan to return for a docent-guided tour to learn more about the plants, and the garden design. To learn more: http://www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/.
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