When planning your garden, it is important to consider layout and design. Welcome back to our October planning series with Alejandro Lemus, the Garden’s horticultural educator. In this episode, Alejandro talks to us about garden design and shows us that design doesn’t always have to be as complicated as rocket science. Whether you have a…
As the summer season draws to a close, fall ushers in the perfect planting season for California natives. Shorter days, cooler weather, and the promise of winter rains, provide optimal conditions for plants to develop deeper roots and robust, healthy foundations. To celebrate the fall planting season, the Garden’s Nursery will be stocked with an…
In celebration of fall 2023, we’re opening the Garden to our central coast community at a special 20% off admission. And, we’ve packed our events calendar with even more ways for your family and friends to enjoy the season. Reservations are required to visit for non-members, so book today before spaces sell out. If you…
The Meadow is one of the most iconic sections at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. In spring, it provides the opportunity to view our own local “superbloom” of bright orange California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), the purples of blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum), and a changing palette of annual wildflowers. In the summer, blue gramma grass (Bouteloua gracilis)…
The spring/summer issue of Ironwood is now available online. Ironwood, the Garden’s biannual magazine, beautifully celebrates the power of native plants and their impact on people and the planet. As a friend of the Garden, you’re invited to explore our digital issue featuring a closer look at island mallow (Malva assurgentiflora). You can also go…
Why Study Native Plant Gardening? California native plant horticulture is an open frontier. There are still lots of basic questions that we haven’t been able to test scientifically yet. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is tackling one of these questions with support from the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust. Through horticultural research are still learning a lot…
The 2023 rainy season has been marked by a series of atmospheric rivers that have brought abundant moisture to California. With this, the Garden experienced its strongest rainfall event of the season on January 9, receiving 9.48” according to the Garden’s Remote Automatic Weather Station. This precipitation event brought down several mature coast live oak…
This December, a collaboration between The Nature Conservancy and the Conservation and Horticulture departments at the Garden resulted in the addition of 56 new plants to our living collection. These plants represent two populations of the federally and state endangered Santa Cruz Island Bush Mallow (Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nesioticus) from Santa Cruz Island that have…
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