Regional Parks Botanic Garden

First time visitor to the garden last weekend. Amazing diversity of CA natives organized by region and habitat type. Liliums were about to flower! Parking is limited.

Summary based on several visits over years:
–Good resource for native plants, especially coordinated with UCB’s Bot Garden
–Parking is generally ok

They have a bush here that’s labeled «Humboldt Mystery Manzanita», collected at a «secret place in Humboldt.» Somehow I feel like someone is pulling my leg.

Lovely desert section for blue belly lizard catching (and releasing!); a few cool snakes roaming around the paths on a sunny day. My favorite area is the very back in the shade, on the bench near the water where the tree roots grow along the shore. It feels like a fairy garden… like I’m in Legend! Try to catch the fritillaria while they are blooming in the spring. Free parking across the street.

Located in giant Tilden Park (
), admission is free to this lovely botanical garden. It is focused on native plants and the manzanitas are gorgeous. However, if you only have time for one, I prefer the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens (
).