Golden Gate Park is an achievement, as everyone will agree. One of its many treasures is the cleverly laid-out 55-acre
San Francisco Botanical Garden, which contains continents within its narrow boundaries.
On February 3rd, 2017, the public television channel KQED held a special day for members to come and preview the nearly 100 magnificent magnolia tree varieties normally in bloom this time of year. When the Botanical Garden opened in 1940, its exotic cup-and-saucer magnolia was the first of its kind in the Unted States--it drew crowds of visitors--and it's still in the garden today.
However, as everyone in northern California knows, after years of drought, the winter of 2016 was the rainiest on record for over 200 years! The result: the gigantic pink, purple and white lemon-scented blossoms on the trees bloomed two-to-three weeks ahead of schedule, leaving us visitors to content ourselves with fiery rhododendrons, luscious camellias and the hundreds of other amazing plants the master gardeners at the botanical garden have managed to coax from the sandy soil. Here are just a few:
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| A superb succulent garden |
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| The redwood grove is a personal favorite |
You can sign up for the Botanical Garden's e-newsletter on their
website to be informed about what's in bloom and when.
Upcoming: wild flowers are in bloom April through June, and pianists play to entertain among the plantings in the July "Flower Piano" event. The garden is free to San Francisco residents, and $8 for adults. Special events and tours require an extra fee.
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!
