AROUND THE WORLD WITH PLANTS at the UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley, CA

View of San Francisco Bay from the UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley, CA.

Fifty years ago, my daughter Jennifer and I posed in front of the sunflowers I was growing along our garden fence in Millbrook, New York. Several weeks ago, on our visit to the University of California Botanical Garden in Berkeley, Jennifer posed in front of a sunflower again, planted in the Crops of the World section.

With Sunflower, 1974.

With Sunflower 2024.

When Jennifer was young and we lived in a house in the country, we planted a huge garden, growing flowers and most of our own vegetables. Today, I still enjoy growing flowers in pots on my patio, but I buy my vegetables from our local Farmer’s Market.

A trip to the Botanical Garden in Berkeley is always a favorite outing with family and friends when we are at our house in Oakland. The 34-acre UC Botanical Garden is the third largest in the United States, featuring more than 10,000 kinds of plants from around the world. It specializes in plants that thrive in a Mediterranean climate similar to that of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Cactus bloom.

After buying our tickets at the front gate, we began our walk, first visiting the exhibits of orchids, cycads and carnivorous plants in the glass houses located just beyond the entrance. 

Gunnera tinctoria, also known as Chilean rhubarb.

From there we followed the paved and gravel paths through the deserts of the Americas, then upward through the Africa, Asian, Australasian, Mediterranean and South American sections, ultimately reaching the garden of old roses with its magnificent view of the garden and San Francisco Bay beyond. It was a warm, but overcast day, perfect for photography. 

Here are a few of our favorite photos from our expedition.

Cactus fruits.

Cactus viewed from above.

The garden was abuzz with bees collecting nectar.

Eryngium Paniculatum, from Argentina.

Sundial in the Garden of Old Roses.

The UC Botanical Garden has a lovely gift shop as well as a garden shop with plants. It puts on many programs for the public, including a monthly Butterfly Walk in summer, which we enjoyed a year ago. (Click on link for my blogpost about the butterfly walk.)

For directions and more information about the UC Botanical Garden, go to their website.