| Ferns are ancient plants
and can be quite low growing or much taller. They evolved before trees came
into existence. |  |
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Still in the section of prehistoric garden we find more ancient plants. |
| It is an arboretum and
has a number of quite old trees. |  |
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This is a hand tree, so named because of the shape of its leaves which are
huge. |
| Trees always have a
variety of greens in their leaves. They can look very attractive in
groupings designed to be contrasting. |  |
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This is a fir with particularly long needles. There is lots of variety in
some species. |
| This isn't a madrona tree
although the bark colour is similar. |  |
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This is a Torrey pine. Most of those remaining are in a five mile stretch of
Californian coastline just north of San Diego. In that windswept location
they only reach 20-30ft. This specimen growing in a more protected
environment is over 100ft tall. |
| This is a Mediterranean
garden with plants used to hot dry summers and moist winters, so it has a
wide variety of species. There is even the odd cactus in this group. |  |
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Eucalyptus are often planted here as a windbreak for more delicate plants.
These are nearing the end of their natural life and will be replaced in the
near future. |
| I do like weeping trees
This is an evergreen mayten (maytenus boreia) from Chile. It grows slowly to
30-50ft and is a very popular street tree in California. In Chile cattle
love to chew its trailing branches. |  |
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This unusual bark is on a Candelabra tree from S Brazil and Argentina
(Araucaria). |
| These are very striking
with their straight white trunks and palm like leaves. |  |
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This is a New Zealand Christmas tree (pohutukawa) from the family myrtaceae.
It forms aerial roots which eventually reach the ground and provide support
for the heavy branches. |
| A pleasing collection
around the pond in the centre of the gardens. Note the gunnera on the banks. |  |
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A mature tree with very fine furry leaves. I suspect this tree prospers in a
dry climate. |
| You could spend days
wandering around places like this trying to identify all the magnificent
trees. Alas we could not buy any. |  |
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There are several stands of redwoods. |
| I don't think we will be
able to grow palms like these. They are very susceptible to frost. SF is
virtually frost free. |  |
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