We love gardens and have been to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada and Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, CA among many others but these two are absolutely fabulous places streaming with color. Huntington Gardens even has a wonderful desert garden that is just so strking and varied. It was like a disney land for cactus plants some even flowering.

Anyway, my question is are there beautiful gardens in or near San Francisco? How is the Conservatory of Flowers? How is the Botancial Garden? Both are located in Golden Gate Park--is one preferable to the other? How do they differ?

Are there any other gardens in the vicinity that are worth visiting?

The Conservatory of Flowers is a must-see if you are in Golden Gate Park.

Probably the finest garden in the region is Filoli in Woodside. But as with all gardens, the time of year can be crucial. You can read about it here:

http://bestgardenvisits.com/california/california.html

Not on the list but one of my favorites is the Native Plants of California garden in Tilden Park above Berkeley.

http://www.nativeplants.org/

If you'll have a car -- then Filoli would be great -- and you can combine it w/ adrive on the San Mateo county coast (Half Moon Bay, Montara, Pacifica)

Otis_B_Driftwood,

Thanks for the link. I am surprised Huntington received 4 stars instead of 5 on the list. We thought it was fabulous. Looks like the conservatory is on our must see list and maybe we can swing Filoli as well.

Janisj

Yes we will have a car to take us to Yosemite and then up to wine country and back into San Francisco. I know you like gardens too. Have you ever seen Huntington? It is actually in San Marino rather than Pasadena which I mentioned before in a previous post. Not only does it contain great garden areas--the desert garden was a real highlight but it also has wonderful art from the masters inside the mansion--Gainsboroughs etc. Blue Boy and Pinky--wonderful artwork all around.

I have not looked at the maps yet so I apologize but how long does it take to drive to Filoli from San Francisco? How long do you usually spend in that garden 2-3 hours?

We visited the Huntington last fall for the first time (and we've lived in California for nearly 40 years) and were blown away by the gardens, the art, the library, everything!

Sf7307,

We were so impressed too. The art alone is magnificent in a wonderful setting. Then the highlight are the fantastic gardens. The Chinese garden is superb and surreal. Very quaint and beautiful. The desert garden is unlike any I have ever seen. The sheer variety of desert plants and the layout is just amazing.
It really is one of my favorite gardens but we only visited once since we live on the East Coast.

Butchart gardens in Victoria Canada has nice flowers beautifully laid out but Huntington was one of a kind.

Anyway looking forward to visiting the Conservatory in San Francisco and maybe Filoli if we have time.

The Conservatory is wonderful and will take less than an hour.

Another garden in the East Bay, Walnut Creek, is the Ruth Bancroft Garden:

http://www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/

europeanovice: "Have you ever seen Huntington? It is actually in San Marino rather than Pasadena which I mentioned before in a previous post. Not only does it contain great garden areas--the desert garden was a real highlight . . . . ."

I've been to the Huntington once but it was years ago. I'll have to plan a trip down there -- love the Pasadena area.

MichelleY: See you Sunday -- hope the weather cooperates. Rain (!) - in September fer cryin' out loud . . . .

The Japanese Tea Garden. I'm not a garden person, but it blew me away!

a recent article about this very topic in our local online paper

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object..._walks.DTL&o=0

Janisj--If you have not been to Huntington in a while then you will love the new Chinese Garden that opened fairly recently. We went a couple of years ago and it was brand new then. It is breathtaking.

MichelleY and mztery--thanks for the links!