Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Encyclopedia
Mission Canyon, California
Mission Canyon is a census-designated place and an unincorporated suburb of Santa Barbara, California, in Santa Barbara County, United States. The population was 2,381 at the 2010 census, down from 2,610 at the 2000 census....
, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The purpose of the Garden is to display California native plants
California native plants
California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century...
in natural settings. There are approximately 9.2 km (5.7 mi) of hiking trails within the garden. Mission Creek
Mission Creek
Mission Creek is a river in San Francisco, California that has been largely culverted. The only remaining portion above ground is in the Mission Creek Channel that drains into China Basin....
flows through the premises, and includes a rock dam which was constructed in 1806 by Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
(mainly Canaliños) under the direction of the Spanish padres of the adjacent Mission Santa Barbara
Mission Santa Barbara
In 1840, Alta California and Baja California were removed from the Diocese of Sonora to form the Diocese of Both Californias. Bishop Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, OFM, established his cathedra at Mission Santa Barbara, making the chapel the pro-cathedral of the diocese until 1849...
.
The Garden was founded in 1926 and designed by noted landscape architect Beatrix Farrand
Beatrix Farrand
Beatrix Jones Farrand was a landscape gardener and landscape architect in the United States. Her career included commissions to design the gardens for private residences, estates and country homes, public parks, botanic gardens, college campuses, and the White House.Farrand was one of the founding...
. By 1936 its focus had narrowed to plants native to the California Floristic Province
California Floristic Province
The California Floristic Province is a floristic province with a Mediterranean climate located on the Pacific Coast of North America with a distinctive flora that bears similarities to floras found in other regions experiencing a winter rainfall, summer drought climate like the Mediterranean...
(which includes a bit of southwestern Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and part of Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, as well as most of the state of California). The Garden became a Santa Barbara County Landmark in 1983 (the dam on Mission Creek was already designated as a State Historic Landmark).
The Garden has a plant breeding program. Plant introduction include Aesculus
Aesculus
The genus Aesculus comprises 13-19 species of woody trees and shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere, with 6 species native to North America and 7-13 species native to Eurasia; there are also several hybrids. Species are deciduous or evergreen...
californica 'Canyon Pink', Agave
Agave
Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies ; they are commonly known as the century plant....
shawii, Arctostaphylos 'White Lanterns', Arctostaphylos
Arctostaphylos
Arctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprised by the manzanitas and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees.There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen , with small oval...
'Canyon Blush', Arctostaphylos
Arctostaphylos
Arctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprised by the manzanitas and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees.There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen , with small oval...
insularis 'Canyon Sparkles', Artemisia californica 'Canyon Gray', Berberis
Berberis
Berberis , the barberries or pepperidge bushes, is a genus of about 450-500 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1-5 m tall with thorny shoots, native to the temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America. They are closely related to the genus...
aquifolium 'Mission Canyon', Ceanothus
Ceanothus
Ceanothus L. is a genus of about 50–60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south...
'Wheeler Canyon', Ceanothus 'Far Horizons', Ceanothus arboreus 'Powder Blue', Eriophyllum
Eriophyllum
Eriophyllum, commonly known as the woolly sunflower, is a genus of annual or herbaceous perennial plant native to western North America, with a concentration of narrow endemics in the California Floristic Province....
nevinii 'Canyon Silver', Fremontodendron 'Dara's Gold', Heuchera
Heuchera
The genus Heuchera includes at least 50 species of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae, all native to North America. Common names include alumroot and coral bells. They have palmately lobed leaves on long petioles, and a thick, woody rootstock...
'Blushing Bells', Heuchera 'Canyon Belle', Heuchera 'Canyon Chimes', Heuchera 'Canyon Delight',Heuchera 'Canyon Duet', Heuchera 'Canyon Melody', Heuchera 'Canyon Pink', Heuchera 'Dainty Bells', Heuchera 'Pink Wave', Iris
Iris (plant)
Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...
'Canyon Snow', Lessingia
Lessingia
Lessingia is a genus of plants in the daisy family which are native to western North America. Some species are endemic to California. Lessingias are generally daisylike in appearance with white, yellow, or purple flowers, but they vary in appearance. Some lessingias are sometimes treated as members...
filaginifolia 'Silver Carpet', Leymus
Leymus
Leymus is a genus of the true grass family . The common name for this genus is "wild rye"; however, members of the genus Elymus are also sometimes given the same common name...
condensatus 'Canyon Prince', Salvia
Salvia
Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with approximately 700-900 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. It is one of several genera commonly referred to as sage. When used without modifiers, sage generally refers to Salvia officinalis ; however, it is...
'Dara's Choice', Salvia cedrosensis 'Baja Blanca', Salvia leucophylla 'Amethyst
Amethyst
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief...
Bluff', and Verbena
Verbena
Verbena , verbenas or vervains, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 250 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the New World from Canada south to southern Chile, but some are also native in the Old...
lilacina 'De La Mina'.
Jesusita fire damage
On May 7, 2009, part of the Botanic Garden was destroyed in the Jesusita FireJesusita Fire
The Jesusita Fire was a wildfire that began at approximately 1:45 PM on May 5, 2009 in the hills of Santa Barbara, California. The fire burned , destroyed 80 homes and damaged 15 more before being 100% contained....
, which burned much of the front country of the Santa Ynez Mountain range
Santa Ynez Mountains
The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America, and are one of the northernmost mountain ranges in Southern California.-Geography:...
behind Santa Barbara. Among the buildings destroyed was the century-old Gane House, which contained the overstock for the garden library as well as many of the tools used for garden upkeep; the home of the garden's director; and a wooden deck overlooking the creek.
See also
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- North American Plant Collections ConsortiumNorth American Plant Collections ConsortiumThe North American Plant Collections Consortium is a group of North American botanical gardens and arboreta that aims to improve the continent's living plant collections, and enhance the availability of plant germplasm...
- California native plantsCalifornia native plantsCalifornia native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century...