The Ruth Bancroft Garden: Inspiration for Drought-Tolerant Planting & Landscape

In this year of drought in California, the thoughts of many Californians are turning to plants and landscapes that can tolerate dry weather conditions.

Earlier this year I was invited to a private tour of The Ruth Bancroft Garden. Although I live just a few miles from the Garden, I had come to take its presence for granted and rarely visited.

Spending a few hours at the Garden with docent Adrian D'Souza (pictured above, pointing out a very large Agave Americana variegated) reminded me that the Garden is a true hidden treasure in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is now high on my list as a tranquil and inspiring spot for gardening insights, as well as a lovely spot to relax and to bring visitors.

More than 50 years ago, Walnut Creek, California, resident Ruth Bancroft, who is now 105 years old, had already planted her 3.5-acre garden with succulents and other plants that could thrive with very little water. She had purchased her first succulent plant in the 1950s and continues to acquire them. Mrs. Bancroft was, and still is, well ahead of her time with respect to plants and gardens that thrive in arid climates.

In 1989 the Garden became the first preservation project of The Garden Conservancy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving exceptional American gardens. The Garden has been open to the public for tours and visits since 1992.

Mrs. Bancroft's first drought-tolerant plant was an Echeveria. These lovely rosette-shaped plants remain a part of the Garden's landscape.



There are at least 150 species and hybrids of Aloe and and 50 species of Agave in the Garden.

This photo shows both Aloes and Agaves, as well as other succulents.



These are more succulents that intrigued me.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden consists of much more than succulents.

In the foreground of this photo is an Xanthorrhoea, an Australian Grass Tree. Behind it is a Washingtonia filifera, a California Fan Palm.

Here is a cluster of the Fan Palms. The dead leaves that hang down over the tree trunks form a protective area that provides a habitat and shelter for such creatures as birds, insects, and small rodents.



This Kapok tree was not in bloom when I saw it in January, but chances are that it has leaves by now.


The Garden is open to visitors Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.; admission is charged (free admission the first Tuesday of each month; members visit for free all the time). Children are welcome (they will be given a special "Children's Garden Quest" to guide them through the Garden). There are picnic tables on site.

Visitors can do self-guided tours (booklet available with admission) or take a docent-led guided tour (April-October: Friday, Saturday, Sunday; November-March: Saturdays). Private group tours can be scheduled in advance.

Also, when you visit the Garden, you will receive a map and numbered "What's in Bloom?" guide to what's blooming that month. The guide includes horticultural details of each plant included in the guide.



The "What's in Bloom?" guide also indicates which plants can be purchased in the Garden's nursery. Be sure to save time to browse, and be tempted by the plants and decorative garden items that are for sale in the nursery and in the main office.



Coming up on Saturday, April 12, 2014 is the Garden's Spring Plant Sale (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.). It is said to feature the Bay Area's best selection of succulents, cacti, and other drought-tolerant plants. Staff and volunteers will be there to provide dry garden advice. While the Garden's Nursery offers plants for sale throughout the year, the best selection is available for this Spring sale and their Fall sale in October. Admission is Free on Plant Sale days.

Other events (some require advance reservations) in the next few months include:

•  A Private Tour of Ruth's Gardens: Saturday, May 10, a tour of the gardens around Ruth Bancroft's home which is behind a fence on the property.

•  Mother's Day, Sunday, May 11, a family day at the Garden with special guided tours and activities. Bring a picnic to enjoy in the Garden, or reserve for a catered Mother's Day Tea (reserve online; two seatings).

•  Sculpture in the Garden, June 13 -July 13, with special events on the opening weekend, which is Father's Day weekend.

•  Bluegrass Sunset Social, August 15, featuring the Alhambra Valley Band.

Deserts of the World, and More

In anticipation of the rain we got at the end of this week, we tried to do our outdoor activities early in our Palm Springs stay.

We spent most of a day at the Living Desert in Palm Desert. Even spending 5 hours there, we could not cover everything. If we lived here, we'd certainly become members and visit often.

The Living Desert is a nature preserve on 1200 acres, 1080 acres of which are un disturbed Sonoran Desert. Its exhibits feature plants and animals from deserts all over the world. And, if this is not enough, it includes extensive nature trails, a small campground, a wildlife veterinary hospital, a carousel where you ride on endangered species carousel animals, aviaries, an enormous G-scale model railroad and so much more. For those who don't wish to walk the full area, there is a shuttle that makes frequent stops throughout.

The first "attraction" that captured our attention was the special exhibit. Birds of the Australian Outback. It's an interactive aviary exhibit in which very friendly parrots climb all over those who enter their tent. Not only do the parrots eat the millet seed food off the sticks we were given, they also explore your pockets, purses, bags and all else. Before leaving the tent, a docent checked us to make sure no bird has slipped into our clothing or bags.

After thoroughly amusing ourselves with these colorful parrots...notice how the ones on Jim seem to match the colors in his shirt?...we wandered through desert plants, the living Desert's nursery ( I managed to resist the temptation to purchase after considering that I'd have to keep my purchases alive for several weeks before I'd actually get them home.), the veterinary hospital, and the animal exhibits. The rest of this blog is more photos of our meandering.

Back in Palm Springs

It's that time of year, and we are back in Palm Springs.
While much of the country is facing another attack by the not-so-elusive Polar Vortex, here, the sun is shining and the daytime temperatures are in the 80's. I'm happy as can be.

As I headed out this morning to meet Rosie for coffee, I was delighted to find Marilyn still here. She was supposed to move on last Spring but the City fathers ( and mothers) have managed to keep her here on Palm Canyon Drive, at least until March 27. Then, she really has to move to Connecticut where the artist who created her is having a major show of his work. Hopefully, Marilyn will eventually make Palm Springs her permanent home. She really fits right in here oh so well.

We met at Koffi in The Corridor and even were lucky enough to find a place to sit outside on the lawn garden. Rosie caught us up on all Palm Springs news and we also discussed the menu for the Academy Awards party she is catering this coming Sunday.

Two wonderful hours later, we parted, until our next visit next week. I spent the afternoon at our pool.

Dinner tonight was at Thai Smile, one of our favorite spots. In the past year, Thai smile has moved to a much larger location at the corner of Indian Canyon and Tahquitz Canyon Drives, right in the center of town.

The food is as good as ever and , even at 6:30 on a Monday night, there was a line of people waiting for a table

We started with the Fresh Shrimp Spring Rolls and then had Panang Curry with Shrimp and Pad See-Ew, a noodle dish made with wide rice noodles, broccoli, and egg in a sweet black bean sauce. We chose sliced pork for the meat ingredient. The noodle dish was new to us. Everything was delicious and we even came home with leftovers. In the many years that we've dined at Thai Smile, we always marvel at their well-prepared dishes that are made with the freshest of ingredients.

And, so ends our first full day in paradise.

Winter Fancy Food Show

 I'm just back from my first day of the Winter Fancy Food show that goes on for three days this week in San Francisco at Moscone Center.

My main goals in attending the shore are to get a sense of food trends and to find products that are sold locally or that I can request that my local Whole Foods or other stores carry.

My general observations are that GMO FREE has surpassed GLUTEN FREE as the current "desirable" feature of many foods. Of course, many vendors proudly display signs that their food is both.

Lots of snack foods are featured this year, mostly chips of all sorts and popcorns, both sweet and savory.

As always, there are many more cheeses from around the world than any human could possibly taste in a month, much less three days.

What several cheese makers are now doing are expanding their product lines with yogurts and ice creams.  

My favorite yogurt from a cheese maker was Tillamook's, coffee yogurt. I'm a big fan of coffee yogurt and have a very hard time finding any brand of this flavor. This one is delicious. Tillamook yogurts are available at Safeway.

Roth Cheeeses was making Reuben sandwiches with their Raclette cheese…what a clever and DELCIOUS idea!

Continuing on the subject of cheeses, I saw many cheeses with spices and added flavors in them. One vendor told me that they take their basic cheese and, with seasonings, wind up with several different products, for many more tastes.

Delallo Italian Foods never disappoints with it array of antipasta, all available for tasting.

I tasted bottled drinks of all sorts. Some have "healthy" additives, others just different flavors. 

Republic of Tea is even introducing a line of High Caffeine Teas!!!

A wine that intrigued me is Stack Wines. I didn't taste the wine, but was Wowed by the packaging: 4 single-serviing plastic cups of wine stacked on top of one another. One Stack is a bottle of wine in a break-proof package, great for taking to a picnic or other event.

I think the entire world is hummuses out. I saw very few hummus companies. While I do enjoy hummus, it's time to move on to some other dip.

But, I did discover several granolas and really liked Gypsy Crunch's granolas, which just so happen to be Gluten and GMO free.

A new ice cream that I'm going to be looking for in stores is Agave Dream, which is sweetened with agave syrup instead of sugar. Agave syrup has a lower glycemic index that sugar so is a better alternative for those wishing to consume less sugar.  In contrast to sugar substitutes, agave has all the desirable sweetness qualities as sugar. I use agave often instead of sugar.

There were many chocolate vendors displaying very very good chocolates from milk chocolate to wonderful dark chocolates.

Of course, Jelly Belly never fails to have a large exhibit and always a new flavor or two to introduce. It is their Draft Beer Jelly Belly that is one of the new flavors of the year…right in time for Super Bowl snacking.

And, the Jelly Belly exhibit would not be complete without a Jelly Belly work of art.