Recreating a 4000-Year Old Garden

Our club president recently had the chance to see the Butchart Gardens and loved it.  British Columbia may be a very different climate to San Diego but seeing a garden vision come to life is motivating for all gardeners.

Set on and in 55 acres of an abandoned quarry it is restorative living art.

The Butchart Gardens – Over 100 Years in Bloom – Victoria, Canada

This fine specimen (Platycerium sp.) belonging to a club member began as single frond in a small hanging basket. It has never been transplanted and thirty years later has a leaf span over 6 feet and a rhizome over 3 feet in diameter.  The small basket is still in there – somewhere.

An Australian genus of 300+ species well suited to dry conditions and poor soils like here in San Diego.  Local nurseries are selling more and more varieties so try one out. They come in many sizes and flower colors to fit any space in your garden. In Australia they are a favorite of honeyeater birds so I presume that our hummingbirds will go crazy for these.  Photo credit; C. Bell (Geelong, Australia)