Must-See for Gardeners in San Francisco

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The Golden Gate Park is huge, it stretches for miles.  A short distance from the Eastern end of the park is the highlight located - at least for plant lovers - the Victorian Plant Pavilion, called the Conservatory.

For arts lovers the highlight is for sure the De Young Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, just a mile to the west from the Pavilion.  So, if you have seen enough art, enjoy the lovely plants at the Conservatory.
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The "Conservatory" describes itself:  "This gem of Victorian architecture has a long and storied history, and is the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatory in North America. As a city, state and national historic landmark, the Conservatory remains one of the most photographed and beloved attractions in San Francisco."

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The Conservatory of Flowers is a Victorian wood-and-glass greenhouse, filled with exotic tropical plants and flowers. Conservatories were fairly common among North American aristocrats in the 19th Century.  Wealthy citizens erected greenhouses on their estates and created glass rooms in their urban mansions.  Tropical plants were brought to California from around the world by explorers and botanists.  Some were even hired by collectors to stock their greenhouses. 

Read more at: http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/about/mission#sthash.lqDhpTI4.dpuf

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1,000+ Heirloom Seeds for Fruits, Flowers and Veggies

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The New York Times wrote:
"Founded in 1852, Petaluma has a pretty downtown lined with Victorian-era iron-front buildings. It’s anchored by the glorious 1920s Sonoma County Bank building with huge arched windows and 30-foot hammered-metal ceilings, now home to the Petaluma Seed Bank and Baker Heirloom Seed Company."   
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Petaluma, north of San Francisco is indeed a lovely town, and visiting the Seed Bank is a MUST for every gardener!  At least for those who do not want to grow and eat "Monsanto Products" - as everything the Heirloom Seed Bank offers is pure, natural, and non-GMO!  

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If you are in the Bay area, Sonoma or Napa Valley, make yourself the pleasure to stock up the ingredients for healthy garden products, with flavor and taste you might remember from your granny's garden harvests. 

You will find lots of books, Honey, garden tools, and everything a gardeners heart might desire, beside more than thousand heirloom seeds. Here are some photo impressions to "wet your appetite".

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Petaluma Seed Bank

199 Petaluma Blvd. North

Petaluma, CA 94952

Phone (707) 773-1336  

If you are wondering what a Seed Bank is - these heirloom seeds are sold in a former bank in Petaluma - but that's just a fantastic name and a coincidence that a bank resided once in the same building where this store is now located. 

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According to Wikipedia: A seed bank (also seedbank or seeds bank) stores seeds as a source for planting in case seed reserves elsewhere are destroyed.  It is a type of gene bank.  The seeds stored may be food crops, or those of rare species to protect biodiversity. The reasons for storing seeds may be varied. In the case of food crops, many useful plants that were developed over centuries are now no longer used for commercial agricultural production and are becoming rare.  Storing seeds also guards against catastrophic events like natural disasters, outbreaks of disease, or war. 

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Read also: How to Save Seeds by Modern Farmer and a photo article by the LA Times about the Seed Bank in Petaluma.

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Desert Gardens Near Berkeley, CA

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One Women - One Vision - is the mission for the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, a lovely small town not far from Berkeley / Oakland in the eastern San Francisco Bay area. 

It's not only a small botanical garden, dedicated to drought-tolerant plants - important in California, and in the whole South-West of the US - but offers lots of educational programs to garden owners, such as: 

• Successfully Growing Agaves at Home
• Succulent Propagation Workshops
• Beginner's Garden Photography .

Here are some photo impressions from a recent visit:

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Visitors cannot only stroll through the gardens and admire the beautiful Succulents, Cacti and Agaves, they can also purchase small plants and maybe convert their own gardens into such a desert paradise - and at the same time save water.  Enjoy your own visit there!

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