The 55-acre
San Francisco Botanical Garden in
Golden Gate Park is just starting to burst into bloom
with a variety of magnolia trees that delight the senses. Every year
at this time, the garden publishes a map so visitors can follow a
walking tour through the various "rooms" in the well-laid out garden acreage, on the look-out (or more like "look-up") for the white or pink blooms - some the size of dinner plates. But magnolias are only one of the charms of this plant-fest. A few favorites: the succulent garden, which is ablaze with red-hot pokers, the redwood grove for the cool peace of giant sequoias, and the little ancient plant walk near the north entrance. Entry is free for San Francisco residents; for non-residents, single entry is $6-12. If you're thinking you might like a place to walk and unwind during the workday though, consider membership: individual membership is $70 a year, allowing free entrance any time to both the botanical garden and the park's fabulous
Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest building in the park, a Victorian wedding cake filled with exotic orchids and tropical plants - a great place to warm up on a chilly day.
If greenery is your thing, there's plenty of
free plantings around the park, in bloom every season of the year. And it's almost time for the ornate tulip plantings to spring up around the windmills on the west side of the park!
The 55-acre San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park is just starting to burst into bloom
with a variety of magnolia trees that delight the senses. Every year
at this time, the garden publishes a map so visitors can follow a
walking tour through the various "rooms" in the well-laid out garden acreage, on the look-out (or more like "look-up") for the white or pink blooms - some the size of dinner plates. But magnolias are only one of the charms of this plant-fest. A few favorites: the succulent garden, which is ablaze with red-hot pokers, the redwood grove for the cool peace of giant sequoias, and the little ancient plant walk near the north entrance. Entry is free for San Francisco residents; for non-residents, single entry is $6-12. If you're thinking you might like a place to walk and unwind during the workday though, consider membership: individual membership is $70 a year, allowing free entrance any time to both the botanical garden and the park's fabulous Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest building in the park, a Victorian wedding cake filled with exotic orchids and tropical plants - a great place to warm up on a chilly day. 
If greenery is your thing, there's plenty of free plantings around the park, in bloom every season of the year. And it's almost time for the ornate tulip plantings to spring up around the windmills on the west side of the park!