Gardens in East Bay

The California Nursery Co. was founded in 1884 by John Rock.  It grew to become the largest retail nursery west of the Rockies. The park hosts a variety of trees, a Japanese and Rose garden, fruit orchard, an 1835 Vallejo Adobe as well as other historical exhibits.  It is a great place for history buffs, garden lovers and horticulturists.

This is a two-acre garden with new paths and footbridges over Dry Creek.  It is lcoated within Garin/Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Parks.  The garden is home to about 200 native and exotic plants, with something in bloom almost every day of the year. There is a large dirt parking lot.  There are restrooms near the Garin Barn and drinking fountains in the picnic area.

Dunsmuir House was built by Alexander Dunsmuir, who came to the Bay Area in 1878. The grounds are home to a wide variety of trees, including Camperdown Elms, Bunya Bunya and Hornbeam, still grace the estates gardens and expansive meadows. In addition, the Hellman estate contained a golf course, formal croquet court, tennis court, swimming pool with Mission style bathhouse, glass conservatory with grotto, an elaborate aviary, formal garden maze, and Japanese garden.

This Arboretum was named for Emile Labadie who was an esteemed professor in the Landscape Horticulture department at Merritt College and also worked for the San Mateo Department of Agriculture.

This site includes a koi pond, teahouse and several viewing pavilions set along a ravine. More than three acres of Japanese and native California trees, rocks, and plants are arranged in traditional Japanese style. The area also includes a small pond containing koi and goldfish, as well as a teahouse.

The Rose Garden was constructed in 1932 as a project of the Works Progress Administration. It was named in honor of former Oakland mayor Fred N. Morcom. As well as thousands of roses, the garden features winding walkways, a reflecting pool, and a cascading fountain. The gardens are in bloom from Mothers Day in May through October 31 of each year.

The building of the 3.54 acre garden was sponsored by the federal government to provide employment during the Depression. The main section of the rose garden is designed like an amphitheater, with wide stone terraces facing magnificent views of San Francisco Bay. A semicircular redwood pergola, which extends the full width of the amphitheater, provides not only visual definition to the site but a structure for climbing roses and shaded benches. The planting of 2,500 rose bushes was planned by the East Bay Counties Rose Society under the supervision of Charles V. Covell. The roses were arranged one color per terrace, from shades of red at the top through bronze and pink to yellow and white at the bottom. The garden contains many steep slopes and steps.

The garden is a living museum of California native plants located within Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley, California. It is a 10 acre sanctuary for thousands of the states rare and endangered plants in many habitats from the High Sierra to the serpentine barrens of the Coast Ranges, and from the northern rain forests to the southern deserts. Most plants are identified with labels. Flowers bloom every month of the year, reaching a spectacular peak in spring through midsummer. In the fall and winter, the garden is decorated with the vibrant hues of ripening fruits, changing leaves, and colorful twigs.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden houses a unique and diverse collection of cacti, succulents and drought tolerant plants from around the world.  The many large mature specimens located throughout the 3.5 acre garden serve as an excellent serves as an example of just how stunning a dry garden can be. There is always something in bloom. They offer self guided and docent led tours of the gardens.

There are about four acres of gardens surrounding the 1856 home of pioneer agriculturalists and nursery owners, James and Lucy Shinn. The four acres include trees, rare plants and shrubs from around the world.

Established in 1968 as a nonprofit education center, they provide demonstration gardens, classes for children and adults, tours and fall and spring plant sales. There are more than twenty demonstration gardens and learning sites in a six acre area. The gardens demonstrate low maintenance, water conserving and environmentally friendly pest management methods, as well as stunning landscape techniques and designs.

The UC garden features one of the most diverse plant collections in the United States. Established in 1890, the garden has 34 acres containing over 12,000 different kinds of plants from all over the world arranged by region.