California Botanic Garden

What is California Botanic Garden?

The garden holds around 70,000 native California plants, covering some 2,000 kinds, counting species, hybrids and cultivars. Behind the scenes, a seed bank stores embryos of thousands of rare plants, which helps protect species that are hard to find in the wild.

It is also a working research center. Its scientists focus on systematic botany and floristics, the study of how plants are classified and which plants grow where. The garden publishes a botanical journal, Aliso, twice a year, and graduate degrees in botany are offered here through Claremont Graduate University.

History of California Botanic Garden

The garden dates to 1927. For much of its life it went by the name Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden before taking its current name. Over the decades it has grown into both a public garden and a scientific institution, with collections and research centered entirely on the native flora of California. That dual role is part of what makes a visit interesting: the beds and paths you walk through are also a living reference collection used by botanists.

Visiting California Botanic Garden: tips

Plan on at least an hour to walk the grounds, longer if the plants catch your interest. Spring, when many native plants bloom, is a popular time to go. There are restrooms on site. Several stops sit close by in Claremont: the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery is about 0.5 miles away, and the John R. Rodman Arboretum and the Prometheus fresco are both about 0.8 miles away, so it is easy to build a half day around the college town.