San Francisco offers floral delight this fall

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San Francisco offers floral delight this fall

August 26, 2008

Looking for a flower-focused getaway this fall? Try San Francisco, especially if you’re an orchid lover. While the summer months there can be surprisingly chilly, this famed city by the bay warms up in September, October and early November.

The temperate climate means you’ll see flowers all over the place, but be sure to spend some time at the Conservatory of Flowers, conservatoryofflowers.org, which boasts nearly 2,000 plant species from more than 50 countries around the world.

Historical Photo/Courtesy of San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers

A national historic landmark, the conservatory is the oldest wood and glass greenhouse in North America; it was opened in 1879.

This gem of Golden Gate Park also houses the world’s largest public collection of high-altitude orchids (more than 700 of the 1,000 known species) as well as an important collection of endangered plant species.

The park “is a cultural and horticultural destination,” says Conservatory Director Brent Dennis, a landscape architect by training as well as an avid gardener and artist.

Photo by Kevin J. Frest/Courtesy of San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers

“You could easily spend a whole day there if you like museums and gardens,” he says, adding that the Dahlia Garden, Rose Garden, Fuchsia Garden and Shakespeare Garden are among the highlights.

With so many flowers to choose from, can he name a single favorite? “I really do love roses, the fragrance, the color range, the beauty of their shape.”

Runners-up would be flowering shrubs like lilacs, magnolia and dogwood, which he first encountered years ago on his grandparents’ farm.

So, back to that flower-powered itinerary. Brent, a Toledo native and OSU grad, suggests that nature lovers also visit Muir Woods redwood forest while in the SF area.

And further afield? In the US, his favorite gardens include the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, mobot.org; Chicago Botanical Garden, chicago-botanic.org; and Huntington Gardens, near Pasadena, huntington.org. In Europe, he likes the formal estate gardens in Italy as well as the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, kew.org, near London.

Flower Fact of the Day: Did you know that lily of the valley has a special connection to San Francisco? Find out what it is at: humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/comments/lily_of_
the_valley_up_a_tree.

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Comments

Holly Blanco | Reply
August 26, 2008

Trying to enter your August contest. Have left comments at two different spots on the blog but they aren't showing up, so tryinig someplace else. Hoping that I can win flowers to send to my husband for our anniversary in September.