San Francisco Botanical Garden
Ten minutes or a life-time... The San Francisco Botanical Garden is the place for you. The Garden is open daily, 365 days a year. Weekdays, 8 am to 4:30 pm. Weekends & holidays, 10 am to 5 pm.
The library is open daily 10am to 4pm but closed on major holidays. Our bookstore is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm.
Free guided walks are given daily at 1:30 pm.
Daily Docent-Led Tours.
San Francisco Botanical Garden,9th Avenue at Lincoln Way,San Francisco, CA 94122 San Francisco Botanical Garden Website sfbotanicalgarden.org
University of California Botanical Gardens
Ten minutes or a life-time... The San Francisco Botanical Garden is the place for you. The Garden is open daily, 365 days a year. Weekdays, 8 am to 4:30 pm. Weekends & holidays, 10 am to 5 pm.
Their library is open daily 10am to 4pm but closed on major holidays. Our bookstore is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm.
University of California Botanical Gardens
(510) 643-2755, 200 Centennial Dr, Berkeley,CA 94720 botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/
Filoli to Botanical Gardens
Located thirty miles south of San Francisco on the eastern slope of the Coast Range, the 654-acre Filoli estate contains as its central portion a historic house and sixteen acres of formal garden. The house was occupied from 1917 to 1936 as a private residence for its original owners, William Bowers Bourn II and his wife, Agnes Moody Bourn. In 1937 the property was sold to Mr. and Mrs. William P. Roth, who continued to maintain and enrich the estate. Mrs. Roth donated Filoli to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1975.
Filoli was built for Mr. and Mrs. Bourn, prominent San Franciscans whose chief source of wealth was the Empire Mine, a hard-rock gold mine in Grass Valley, California. Mr. Bourn was also owner and president of the Spring Valley Water Company comprising Crystal Springs Lake and surrounding lands, which are now part of the San Francisco Water Department. Mr. Bourn selected the southern end of Crystal Springs Lake as the site for his estate. He arrived at the unusual name Filoli by combining the first two letters from the key words of his credo: “Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.”
Mr. Bourn chose his longtime friend, the prominent San Francisco architect Willis Polk, as the principal designer for the house. Polk had previously designed the Bourns’ cottage in Grass Valley, as well as their home on Webster Street in San Francisco. An inventive architect, Polk frequently combined several styles in the design of a single building, an eclecticism clearly evident in Filoli’s design.
Filoli to Botanical Gardens filoli.org
Tilden Regional Park, Regional Parks Botanic Garden
From their website: "The Regional Parks Botanic Garden was founded on January 1, 1940. Situated in Tilden Regional Park's beautiful Wildcat Canyon in the heart of the north Berkeley Hills, the garden is devoted to the collection, growth, display, and preservation of the native plants of California. The state is a vast region of many floral areas, such as seacoast bluffs and coastal mountains, interior valleys, arid foothills, alpine zones, and two kinds of desert. California embraces nearly 160,000 square miles - imagine 160,000 square miles of California set in a garden that can be walked in a day. "
Berkeley, CA
510-841-8732
Toll Free: 888-EBPARKS (888-327-2757), option 3, extension 4507 Tilden Regional Park, Regional Parks Botanic Garden Website
Green Gulch Farm Teahouse
The Teahouse - A generous donation from a friend of Zen Center enabled us to construct a traditional Japanese teahouse, one of the few such structures in America. Tea classes in the Urasenke tradition are offered weekly. Private viewings of the teahouse and tea ceremonies can be arranged.
Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Hwy, Sausalito, CA 94965 Green Gulch Farm website
Napa Country Iris Garden
One of Napa's best kept secrets, garden specializing in tall bearded irises.
Garden Info: 707.255.7880
Garden Address: 9087 Steele Canyon Road, Napa, Ca, 94558 www.napairis.com
di Rosa Preserve
Wine Country’s Ultimate Art Experience the di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature.
Entirely surrounded by vineyards, the di Rosa Preserve’s 217 acres feature three art galleries,
an outdoor sculpture meadow and a 35-acre lake set in the beautiful Carneros region at the southern edge
of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Come visit! www.dirosapreserve.org
Mustard Festival
The mustard festival is the celebration of the spring mustard bloom. The brilliant swaths of yellow are left over from days of the California
Mission Trail when missionaries were thought to have sprinkled mustard seeds between missions to find their way in the spring
growth after winter. Its art in nature on display in the wine country.
The mustard festival includes art, wine, and food with the Napa Valley Mustard Festival culminating in the mustard photography contest photo finish usually at the Mumms Champagnery, For annual details: www.mustardfestival.org
Lavender Festival
Sonoma Lavender is the inspiration for many artists, particulary the fabulous work of Kay Carlson, a Sausalito artist.
Lavender Festival in Kenwood, in the heart of the Sonoma Valley, is spectacular. They celebrate the extraordinary lavender plant and its many uses. See a five acre lavender farm in full bloom. Experience the many types of lavender and the exquisite ways to enjoy this heavenly plant.
See their website for annual festival details. more lavender festival info click here WEBSITE
Bouverie Wildflower Preserve
Bouverie Preserve
This magnificent 500-acre property was donated to Audubon Canyon Ranch by David Bouverie in 1979.
Oak woodlands, mixed evergreen forest, riparian, and chaparral are present in this landscape dominated by Stuart Creek Canyon.
This location is known for its amazing spring wildflowers. Because of its diversity, Bouverie Preserve is home to a rich and distinct combination of plants and animals, including more than 130 species of birds, 350 species of flowering plants, and numerous large mammals such as the bobcat, grey fox, and coyote.
tel. +1 707.938.4554
Highway 12
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve State Reserve
This 1,745 acre State Wildflowers Reserve, nestled in the Antelope Buttes 15 miles west of Lancaster, California, is located on California's most consistent poppy-bearing land. Other wildflowers: owl's clover, lupine, goldfield, cream cups, and coreopsis, to name a few, share the desert grassland to produce a mosaic of color and fragrance each spring. As unpredictable as nature - the intensity and duration of the wildflower bloom varies yearly.
Location - Directions
The Reserve is located 15 miles west of Lancaster on Avenue I. Take the Avenue I off ramp from the 14 Freeway, head west 15 miles to the Poppy Reserve.
Latitude/Longitude: 34.7502 / -118.3816
For the latest information and to talk to a person call 661-942-0662 Mondays through Saturdays 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve State Reserve Website
Muir Woods National Monument, Marin County
Muir Woods National Monument
Mill Valley, CA 94941 (415)388-7059
The classic with Ansel Adams vibrations everywhere. This park is crowded and has lots of human noise, joy and activity. The primary walks
are fenced off and you really must stay on the trails to preserve the park. If you go to the far end of the major walks, there are trails without borders.
In the winter, it is very reclusive and a great rejuvenation spot. http://www.visitmuirwoods.com/
Sameul P. Taylor Park, Marin County
Sameul P. Taylor Park Redwood Forests is 15 miles west of San Rafael on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 251, Lagunitas, CA 94938
Samuel P. Taylor State Park has wooded countryside in the steep rolling hills of Marin County north of San Francisco. The park features a unique contrast of coast redwoods groves and open grassland.
Its a lesser known Redwood park, but boasts beautiful creeks, woods and wildlife. For more information click for
Samuel P. Taylor Park, California State Park Webpage
Butano Redwoods State Park, Pescadero
Pescadero, California Butano Redwoods State Park is located in a secluded redwood-filled canyon. The park is on the San Mateo Coast, off Highway One. Three miles northeast of the Gazos Creek Coastal Access Point by way of Gazos Creek Road, and about 4.5 miles southeast of Pescadero by way of the Pescadero and Cloverdale Roads.
Butano Redwoods State Park features miles of hiking trails, 21 drive-in campsites and 18 walk-in campsites. Restrooms with running water are provided. Drinking water is available at the park in both the campground and in the day use areas. There are no showers.
Guided nature walk and weekend campfire programs are offered during the summer.
Dogs are permitted in the campground and in developed areas, providing they are controlled with a leash of no more than six feet at all times. Dogs are not permitted on the trails.
(650) 879-2040 Butano Redwoods State Park parks.ca.gov.
Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay, California
One of the few Redwood Parks that admission is Free.
The centerpiece of this 3,360-acre preserve is Purisima Creek Canyon, with its towering redwoods, rushing creek, and understory of ferns, berries, and wildflowers. Coastal scrub and hardwood forests of tanoak, madrone, and Douglas fir border the cool moist canyon. Magnificent views of the coast and Half Moon Bay are visible from the northern part of the preserve.
(650) 691-1200 The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District openspace.org.
Portola Redwoods State Park, La Honda
One redwood here tops 300 feet, one of the tallest in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Portola Redwoods State Park has a rugged, natural basin forested with coast redwoods,
Douglas fir and live oak. Eighteen miles of trails crisscross the canyon and its two streams,
Peters Creek and Pescadero Creek. A short nature trail along Pescadero Creek introduces visitors
to the natural history of the area. The park is rich in natural history. There is evidence of the when the sea covered
this area throughout the park.
(650) 948-9098 Portola Redwoods State Park parks.ca.gov.
Many of the biggest Redwood Trees are in the are South on the Penninsual and in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Here are some more to look up if the list above
does not fill your search for a breath of fresh air. Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Boulder Creek; Huddart County Park, Woodside; Wunderlich County Park, Woodside; San McDonald County Park, La Honda; Memorial County Park, La Honda; Henry Cowell Redwoods, Santa Cruz; Forest of Nisene Marks, Aptos.
In the novel "THE CELESTINE PROPHECY", part of the story is the necessity to go into Redwood Forests to breath purer air.
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