The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is a , containing over 1,000 species of rare and indigenous plants. It is located in Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara, California, United States. The purpose of the Garden is to display

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. California includes parts of at least three phytochoria. The largest is the California Floristic ...

in natural settings. There are approximately of hiking trails within the garden. Mission Creek flows through the premises, and includes a rock dam which was constructed in 1806 by Native Americans (mainly Canaliños) under the direction of the Spanish padres of the adjacent Mission Santa Barbara.

History

The Garden was founded in 1926 and designed by landscape architect Beatrix Farrand. By 1936 its focus had narrowed to plants native to the California Floristic Province (which includes a bit of southwestern Oregon and part of Baja California, as well as most of the state of California). The Garden became a Santa Barbara County Historical Landmark in 1983 (the dam on Mission Creek was already designated as a State Historic Landmark). On May 6, 2009, part of the Botanic Garden was burned in the Jesusita Fire, which burned much of the front country of the Santa Ynez Mountains behind Santa Barbara. While garden displays have recovered from the devastating effects of the fire, several buildings were destroyed. One 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. June, 2015 marks the ground-breaking on the new John C. Pritzlaff Conservation Center at the site of the old Gane House. The building opened in 2016.

Plant breeding

The Garden has a plant breeding program. Plant introduction include Aesculus californica 'Canyon Pink', Agave shawii, Arctostaphylos 'White Lanterns', Arctostaphylos 'Canyon Blush', Arctostaphylos insularis 'Canyon Sparkles', Artemisia californica 'Canyon Gray', Berberis aquifolium 'Mission Canyon',

Ceanothus ''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of Actinorhizal plant, nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceano ...

'Wheeler Canyon', Ceanothus 'Far Horizons', Ceanothus arboreus 'Powder Blue', Eriophyllum nevinii 'Canyon Silver',

Fremontodendron ''Fremontodendron'', with the common names fremontia and flannelbush or flannel bush, is a genus of three known species of shrubs native plant, native to the Southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. Taxonomy They are within the botanical ...

'Dara's Gold',

Heuchera ''Heuchera'' ( or ) is a genus of largely evergreen perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae, all native to North America. Common names include alumroot and coral bells. Description ''Heuchera'' have palmately lobed leaves on long petiole ...

'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 most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

'Canyon Snow',

Lessingia ''Lessingia'' is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae which are native to western North America. Several species are endemic to California. ''Lessingias'' are generally daisy-like in appearance with white, yellow, or purple flowers, but t ...

filaginifolia 'Silver Carpet',

Leymus ''Leymus'' is a genus of plants in the grass family Poaceae (Gramineae). It is widespread across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. * '' Leymus aemulans'' - Xinjiang, Central Asia * '' Leymus ajanensis'' - Siberia, Russian Far East, Alaska * ''L ...

condensatus 'Canyon Prince',

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part of the tribe Mentheae within the subfamily Nepetoide ...

'Dara's Choice', Salvia cedrosensis 'Baja Blanca', Salvia leucophylla '

Amethyst Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that ...

Bluff', and

Verbena ''Verbena'' (), also known as vervain or verveine, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 150 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the Americas ...

lilacina 'De La Mina'.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Botanical gardens in California Parks in Santa Barbara, California Flora of California Santa Ynez Mountains 1926 establishments in California Protected areas established in 1926 History of Santa Barbara County, California Tourist attractions in Santa Barbara, California Flora without expected TNC conservation status

History

Plant breeding

See also

References

External links