Blog by Michelle Krespi
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the University of California Botanical Garden in Berkeley. A good friend of mine has been a docent there for over ten years and has told me so much about the garden, that I was excited to finally see it. I have to preface my visit with the fact that I have mobility issues, and this garden is filled with very steep hills. I got a transport chair, and my docent friend was kind enough to push me through the hilly gardens. The great advantage was that I essentially got a one-person guided tour by someone who was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the garden. The first thing that impressed me was the sheer scope of the garden. It is 34 acres located in Strawberry Canyon in the Berkeley Hills, complete with panoramic views of the Bay Area. It was established in 1890 on the north side of the campus and was modeled after the famous Crystal Palace in London. The garden/s first glass-style conservatory was built in 1894 for $16,000! Inside, you could find palm trees and assorted tropical plants, but it was eventually torn down for more construction. The garden exploded in size, housing six hundred plant species within just two short years.
In 1909, the University purchased Strawberry Canyon, and sixteen years later, the garden was relocated there. In plant expeditions to China, South Africa, Peru, Bolivia, Australia, New Zealand, the Andes and Mesoamerica by Berkeley researchers and paleontologists, the garden saw great expansions. The garden has more than 324 plants.
Here is a picture taken from the gardens' botanical maps showing the variety of parts of the world represented.
This is the third-largest Botanical Garden in the U.S. One of its striking attributes is its focus on conservation.
The garden houses over 2,000 plants that are rare or extinct in their natural habitat. California is one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots, and the conservation efforts focus on the state’s rare and endangered native flora. In fact, the Garden joined the National Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) in 1987. This organization is a global leader in setting standards of practice in plant conservation. They use four different methods to accomplish this goal: a seed bank, a pollen bank, a frozen leaf tissue bank (preserving a plant's DNA for future studies, and finally, herbarium documentation where specimens are pressed, dried, labeled, and stored for future research. With climate change and its impact on the ongoing loss of species each year, this garden is a living laboratory, making its plants available for study in connection with research institutions and universities worldwide. The garden has been included in many scholarly research publications that rely fully or at least partially on the garden. I left the garden feeling like I had experienced a national treasure right in our backyard, and I urge all to take advantage of this amazing resource. Due to the greenery and availability of water, you could feel all the negative ions in the environment leaving me more energized than when I arrived!