Qualla: San Diego Botanic Garden

San Diego Botanic Garden: Introduction

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit cultivar413 from Fallbrook, California, CC BY 2.0. Ruth Baird Larabee spent decades cultivating her property in Encinitas. When she died in 1957, she left it to San Diego County — the house, the grounds, and the beginning of what would eventually become the San Diego Botanic Garden. The county received a private estate and, over the following decades, transformed it into one of the most ecologically diverse botanical collections on the Pacific coast: 37 acres, more than 5,000 plant species and varieties, 15 regional gardens, 12 demonstration gardens, and a bamboo collection that holds no rival among public gardens in North America.

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Image: cultivar413 from Fallbrook, California | CC BY 2.0

San Diego Botanic Garden: From Estate to Public Garden

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bovlb, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Quail Botanical Gardens Foundation was established in 1961, four years after Larabee's donation. In March 1970, the garden opened to the public under the name Quail Botanic Gardens — a name that stuck for nearly four decades. The 'Quail' identity became embedded in the garden...

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Image: Bovlb | CC BY-SA 3.0

San Diego Botanic Garden: The Collection

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. The garden's 15 regional gardens represent different ecosystems and horticultural traditions from around the world. Southern California's Mediterranean climate allows the garden to grow an unusual range of plants that could not survive in more extreme climates elsewhere in the co...

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Image: Nzeemin | CC BY-SA 3.0

San Diego Botanic Garden: The Corpse Flower and Other Spectacles

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit cultivar413 from Fallbrook, California, CC BY 2.0. In July 2023, the garden's corpse flower bloomed for the first time in two years. The spectacle required advance reservations — the flower is only in bloom for a few days — and drew visitors willing to queue for the experience of encountering Amorphophallus titanum in its brief, ...

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Image: cultivar413 from Fallbrook, California | CC BY 2.0

San Diego Botanic Garden: Children's Garden and Community Programs

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit cultivar413 from Fallbrook, California, CC BY 2.0. The Hamilton Children's Garden is a dedicated space within the larger garden designed for younger visitors, with interactive elements calibrated to the curiosity of children in early elementary grades. The garden regularly provides visiting third-grade school groups with local hi...

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Image: cultivar413 from Fallbrook, California | CC BY 2.0