The Tilden Regional Parks Botanical Garden is another great
botanical garden in the San Francisco Bay area. The park is located in Wildcat
Canyon in the North Berkeley hills, and covers ten acres. I visited in March
for the first time.
The garden is devoted to plants of California. The park is
divided into ten sections that represent ten distinctive natural regions of
California (Southern California, Valley Foothill, Santa Lucia, Channel Islands,
Franciscan, Pacific Rain Forest, Sierran, Redwood, Sea Bluff, and
Shasta-Klamath); and three subsections (aquatic plants, coastal dune plants,
and the Antioch Dunes of Contra Costa county). Plant specimens are planted in
sections corresponding to their origin by region. Regions are color coded on
the map, and garden beds are systematically numbered and associated with each region.
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| James B. Roof Visitor Center |
In addition to this great organization is the fantastic,
color-coded signage for each section and planting bed. Signs provide Latin and
common names, county of origin, a catalog number, and indication of whether the
plant is rare or endangered, or native to this region.
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| Color-coded signage (blue for Sierran region) |
A docent lead tour is hosted every Saturday at 2:00, or you
can follow the color coded map. Garden tours can be arranged for groups. I
chose to wander the garden paths, sit at my leisure under the Redwoods, observe
the plants, and take pictures.
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| Path through the manzanita |
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| The ceanothus was abuzz with bees |
When I visited, the redbud, ceanothus, and trilliums were in
full bloom, along with many other plants. You can visit every month of the year and see something different in bloom.
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| Wake Robin (trillium) |
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| California Pipevine |
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| Giant Wake Robin (trillium) |
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| Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry |
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Once a year the park holds a plant sale, which is
open to amateur gardeners and professionals. The plant list is available online
prior to the event. The plants are grown in numerous greenhouses scattered
throughout the grounds.
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| Several greenhouses used to populate plants for the garden and annual plant sale |
I recommend this botanical garden to learn more about the
incredibly diverse native plants from California. I was excited to find
examples of plants from my research for our yard—ground covers, grasses, and
vines—and to be able to compare native variations from different regions in the
state. For example, I found the ground cover Bearberry (Arctostaphylos
uva-ursi) from multiple regions. Below are four - a local native, and three others from San Mateo, Sonoma, and Mono Counties. The local native version
would be ideal, if I could find it at a native plant sale, but the others could work if I found the right environment in our garden.
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| Trailing Bearberry (local native) |
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| Trailing Sand Berry |
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| Kinnikinnick |
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| Convict Lake Manzanita |
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This botanical garden is a wonderful resource for anyone who
wants to see plants in situ with other members of its plant community and
similar terrain. It is also great for anyone who just wants to spend a few hours in a beautiful place. Benches and shade abound for rest and reflection, and a creek runs through it.
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