by Frank Sabatini Jr.

The northern climes have their lush-green arboretums. The southern latitudes flaunt parcels of land dense with tropical flowers, while the nearby deserts embody highly protected areas showing off eye-catching succulents. Lucky for us, San Diego falls in the balance of those climate extremes, which means that we enjoy some of the most diverse gardens in North America. And what blooms in late summer is only the beginning of a spectacular show that continues year-round.
The northern climes have their lush-green arboretums. The southern latitudes flaunt parcels of land dense with tropical flowers, while the nearby deserts embody highly protected areas showing off eye-catching succulents. Lucky for us, San Diego falls in the balance of those climate extremes, which means that we enjoy some of the most diverse gardens in North America. And what blooms in late summer is only the beginning of a spectacular show that continues year-round.
When the population in San Diego started swelling in the 1900s, engineers and philanthropists joined forces to secure a steady supply of water into the area from the Colorado River and northern California. The botanists were always nearby in an effort to transform some of the scrubby grayish-brown landscape into inviting parks and pretty gardens they knew our soil would support. And indeed it has. From the cactus and rose gardens in Balboa Park to other public gardens that are more tucked away and bursting with wildflowers, San Diego calls on us to tiptoe through its flora.

Quail Botanical Gardens Don’t be fooled by its unassuming entrance. This sensational coastal garden hides a plethora of preened vegetation that gives you lush green lawns and tropical flowers in one direction, desert scrub in another and beach grasses further down the hiking trail. A waterfall hosting ferns and mosses is included. Additionally, a two-story observation tower at the farthest end of the garden offers views of meadows and pine forests with the blue Pacific as a backdrop. It’s a Garden of Eden that leaves you wondering just where on the planet you stand.

The Tribute Garden at San Diego Hospice
Drought-resistant plants and bushes flank this open, outdoor plaza set atop a high bluff overlooking Mission Valley. The space is oddly tranquil despite the faint din of traffic from Interstate-8 far below. Various colored “tribute stones” weave throughout the area, which is highlighted at the northern end by a bronze sculpture of a woman and child. Funds raised through the purchase of the stones benefit the local service programs provided through Hospice.

Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego
Sparsely arranged “plant gifts” from San Diego’s sister city, Yokohama, have turned this sloping garden in Balboa Park into a Zen-like destination for residents and visitors alike. The garden will expand further into its canyon later this year and make way for an amphitheater and larger koi pond. For now, garden enthusiasts can wander serenely through a maze of cherry blossom trees, Japanese maples, a Chinese flame tree, azaleas, raked pebbles and boulders. Toward the bottom ofthe garden rises a bamboo wall that serves as a natural fence.

Other Balboa Park Gardens
Colorful blue and yellow Spanish tiles form the flowerbeds in Balboa Park’s Alcazar Garden, which boasts profuse arrangements of annuals practically all year round. A shadowy arched walkway at the north end, combined with low fountains in the center of the garden, add to the romantic Spanish ambience.
Take a short walk east down El Prado and over the Park Boulevard pedestrian bridge, and you’ll encounter a convincing slice of the American Southwest at the sprawling Cactus Garden. It’s one of the oldest gardens in the park, conceived by botanist Kate Sessions who’s been called the Mother of Balboa Park. Just south of the thorny cacti is the park’s famous Rose Garden, bursting with 2,500 roses of 200 different varieties from March through December. The fragrant, three-acre site is a favorite among photographers and beckons to the wildly colorful rose gardens of Portland, Oregon.

Chula Vista Nature Center Gardens
The gardens around the museum display drought-tolerant plants and shrubbery that are indigenous to our region, and they attract a fair share of butterflies and hummingbirds on a nectar quest. What started out as a bland lawn area was transformed into these neatly arranged gardens by the Huck Finn Summer Academy. Later, the Chula Vista Garden Club received a grant from Shell Oil Company to buy plants and maintain certain areas of the nature center grounds. The Pelican Circle garden in front of the building was among the group’s first projects.

Garden at La Jolla Playhouse
A hillside next to the theater some years ago called to a prop man, whose dream was to plant and nurture a garden. So he planted it with cuttings of cactus and succulents from his own small home, and also scattered the soil with generous sprinklings of wildflower seeds. Today, the garden is distinguished by unusual art pieces designed by craftsman Ian Grant that he built for various playhouse productions – coats of arms, weathervanes, fake topiaries, bamboo wind chimes. The garden is located under a grove of eucalyptus trees about 100 yards past the Mandell Weiss Theatre box office.

Carlsbad Flower Fields
Some will argue that it’s too big to be called a garden. But when you’re standing in the middle of a 53-acre hillside surrounded by 200 million ranunculus blooms grouped in candy-stripe rows by their various colors, you may as well have landed in fantasyland. The spectacle unfortunately occurs only between March and May, but it’s well worth marking your calendar for a visit, or at least a drive-by down Interstate 5 past the Palomar Airport Road exit, from where the flowers look like a massive neon carpet in the distance.