San Diego’s Botanic Garden isn’t huge—only 37 acres—but it manages to pack in quite a variety of vistas and venues without seeming cramped.

That includes not only the kinds of plants and specialties you’d expect from the local area, but specialty gardens featuring plants from areas as diverse as South Africa, South America and New Zealand.
The special plants and gardens aside, it’s a remarkably pleasant garden to stroll, gently rising to a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. Somehow, from that bluff, I failed to take any images of the ocean!
The San Diego garden is a relatively recent creation; until 1957, the land was the private estate of Ruth Baird Larabee, who gave her house and grounds to the county. It opened in 1970 as Quail Botanic Gardens; the name changed in 2009.
Aside from the 15 ‘regions of the world’ gardens, it has demonstration gardens and what is said to be the largest North American public collection of bamboo. There’s also a sizable children’s garden that features all kinds of educational and fun activities; unusually, it’s entirely ADA-compliant. And unfortunately, it had closed for the day…
An unusual sight for a garden—what appears to be a devastatingly dead plant. The story is in the label. Jandi (prosopis cineraria), from the Middle East, is a member of the pea family; the sign tells us that “this mesquite tree has yellow flowers and is very drought tolerant.” Perhaps it’s feeling better now.
Not far away, in the Garden of the New World, some other notoriously “drought-tolerant” if prickly native plants native to the area.

The cafe looked lovely, but it was closed; it’s near the summit of the garden and near, no surprise, the garden’s grove of mature cork oaks. The gazebo was a pleasant substitute for a break in our walk.
Some lovely colors and a rustic, tumbling stream…
Spiky leaves, and a cluster of oxtail asparagus…
Subtle colors above, and unusual shapes below…
Nuts and Bolts
Like many of San Diego’s attractions, the garden is not in San Diego the city but in San Diego the surrounding huge county. It’s actually in the town of Encinitas.
- Open 9 to 4 (winter hours, 9-6 summr) except Thanksgiving, Christmas and Tuesdays
- Admission $18, Military/Seniors $15, 3-17 $10
- 300 Quail Gardens Drive at Ecke Ranch Road, Encinitas
- Getting there: Near Encinitas Boulevard exit on I-5; No direct bus or transit.
I love to tour gardens. Thank you for showing me this California one.