It's Ruth Bancroft's Birthday!

In honor of Ruth's birthday I thought I would republish what I wrote about my very first visit to the garden, in 2012, along with an index of my other visits — should you want to spend some time lusting after the beautiful plants there.

Before I launch into that 2012 post though I have to share one other very special moment, a comment on that post, from Ruth's daughter, Kathy Bancroft Hidalgo: "We all enjoyed these wonderful photos. I shared them with my mom, Ruth Bancroft, and she was delighted. You were right about the plant being grown from a seed in 1968. Thanks for making my mom's day!"... can you even? It still makes me tear-up a little to know that Ruth looked at my photos and (hopefully) heard how much visiting her garden meant to me. Happy Birthday Ruth! And now back to 2012...


When I first met JJ, and we were comparing notes on our Agave collections, she was adamant that I must visit the Ruth Bancroft Garden. So isn’t it fitting that when I finally did it was with her? This is the scene visible from the street…

All of these beauties are growing outside the garden! Talk about great advertising…(you’ll have to forgive me for not getting many names on this tour, I let myself just be carried away by the splendor and didn’t get all documentary)

Agave victoriae-reginae
Agave Ferdinand Regis

Aloe broomii, about to bloom…

Aloe brevifolia
Everywhere we went in California the Ceanothus were in bloom, this vibrant plant was growing adjacent to the parking lot. I believe it is C. ‘Dark Star.’

And we enter the garden…
The Ruth Bancroft Garden is approximately 3 ½ acres, planted on a former walnut orchard. In 1972 the beds and paths were laid out by garden designer Lester Hawkins, but the plantings were all arranged and done by Mrs. Bancroft. She had been growing potted succulents in greenhouses surrounding her nearby home and finally, with the phasing out of the orchard, she was able to get her specimens in the ground.

Back then the garden was private, however upon visiting the garden in 1989, and discussing the lack of preservation plans with Mrs. Bancroft, Frank Cabot was inspired to form The Garden Conservancy (a national organization founded by Mr. Cabot to preserve America’s exceptional gardens), this garden was its first project.

Ruth Bancroft is now 104 years old, I heard she made an appearance at the last plant sale.

On the right is Hesperoyucca whipplei var. eremica, on the left Manfreda 'Macho Mocha.’
Close up of the Hesperoyucca whipplei…
Agave parryi var. truncata
Echium of some sort (I believe)...
This variegated Agave parryi stopped me in my tracks. I was almost tempted to do an entire post on it alone so you would be sure to properly appreciate it's beauty.
I've never seen anything like it **swoon**...

Manfreda undulata 'Chocolate Chips' I believe...
Here we have a blooming (or about to bloom) Agave geminiflora

And it's wavy pup...
Peeking over the Opunita is a much larger Hesperoyucca whipplei
Fabulous!
Agave americana 'Variegata'
Obviously a Euphorbia, but I have no idea which one...
A river of blue Senecio mandraliscae

Aloe striata
Looks like protection from the rains? I'm surprised they don't rot under there with no air circulation...

Bloomed out dead mother, and pup.

Yucca treculeana

Look at the label...do you suppose that means this Yucca was planted from seed in 1968?
The bloom is HUGE...

This Agave obviously believes in sending its pups out, far away from home.

These plants were all under cover but it was large enough that you could walk through.
Can you see the hummingbird enjoying the Aloe flowers?

Here's a close up...
Ah, my old plant crush...Aloe capitata var. quartziticola. I fell in love with this plant when we visited the Berkeley Botanical Garden in 2009. This is only the second one I've seen.

And that concludes our visit to the Ruth Bancroft Garden, I'm so glad I finally got to visit! Thanks JJ for making it possible.


Want more? Here are all my posts on the RBG...
The Ruth Bancroft Garden (2012); Part One, Part Two
The Ruth Bancroft Garden (2013)
The Ruth Bancroft Garden (2016)