The California Fan Palm Oasis, featuring an attractive grouping of California's only native palm, Washingtonia filifera, is particularly pleasant. Here, as in nature, these massive plants have been allowed to keep their skirts of dried brown fronds. The Plant Communities display, in naturalistic plant associations, some of the most impressive specimens in the entire collection. The largest cultivated examples of Big Berry Manzanita are found here, as are numerous plantings of the rare and endangered Crucifixion Thorn. Also of particular note are the large serene grove of Four-needled Pinyon, the spring blooming of the California Flannel Bushes, the unusual Catalina Crossosoma and the always beautiful Madrone Tree.
Visitors enjoy coming to the Garden throughout the year.
In winter, rains break summer dormnacy in native plants and trigger flowering and new vegetative growth. The large collection of Manzanitas flower from late November throughj early March, and are followed by a peak blooming season of California Wild Lilacs in March and April. Ge sure to see the incredibly profuse early flowering of the Coast Ceanothus. Throughout the spring, wildflowers, perennials, and shrubs bloom in waves of riotous color. This is followed by the summer and fall fruiting and seed ripening that provides a more subtle color and texture to the Garden.