The cacti in the the New World Desert Collection of the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley are in stunning bloom. How have I missed this in past years? The flowers are gorgeous! All these photos were taken during my visit on Sunday, May 5th, 2013. If you live in the San Francisco area, I recommend … Continue reading »
This Friday, May 10th, is National Public Gardens Day. To celebrate the event, Better Homes and Gardens magazine is offering readers a free admission coupon for two to visit participating public gardens, arboretums, and green spaces on this day. Head on over to the Better Homes and Gardens National Public Gardens Day page… http://www.bhg.com/gardening/arboretums/celebrate-national-public-gardens-day/ … … Continue reading »
Blake Garden in Kensington may be the best botanic garden in the Bay Area for nature play. A favorite feature for my son is the Create-with-Nature Zone, which is stocked with sticks, rocks, flowers, and other nature items for kids to play and build with. The second best feature here is the bamboo tunnel sculpture. … Continue reading »
Photos taken April 5th, 2013 Blake Garden, Kensington, California Continue reading »
I consider the Japanese Garden in Hayward to be a bit of a hidden gem, as so few people seem to know about it. Whenever I mention it, the response is usually, “There’s a Japanese garden in Hayward?!?” Yes, there is, and a lovely one at that. Interested in going? The garden is free, open … Continue reading »
A great place to see turtles! Japanese Garden, Hayward Photos taken February 24th, 2013 Continue reading »
We love to visit The Living Roof whenever we visit the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. This paragraph from the Academy webpage states it best… “An open-air observation terrace enables visitors to get a close-up look at the roof’s lush canopy of plants. The view encompasses the densest concentration of native wildflowers in … Continue reading »
Wishing you all the best in 2013! Looking for color on a winter day. Photos taken December 30th, 2012 UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley Continue reading »
Another place we love to visit in Tilden Regional Park is the Botanic Garden. I enjoy experiencing the seasonal changes of this garden throughout the year. These images are from our visit on Sunday, November 18th, 2012, on a quiet morning after two days of rain. Interested in going? The Regional Parks Botanic Garden is … Continue reading »
One of my favorite places to walk with my son… the Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley. He leads. I follow. Interested in what we saw on this visit to the gardens? Check out these posts… Flowers (October) Garden (Fence) The Newts are Back Weekly Photo Challenge: Big Continue reading »
Photos taken Sunday, October 21st, 2012 UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley Continue reading »
Photos taken Sunday, October 21st, 2012 Crops of the World, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley Continue reading »
California Newt, Japanese Pond, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley… Please see… Newts in the Botanical Garden Continue reading »
I have to preface this post by stating that we live on the edge of our city, on the border where the houses meet the open grasslands and oak forests beyond. We love living here because of the views and the wildlife that visit us. However, we’re not fond of one visitor… the rats. No … Continue reading »
Another beautiful day at Blake Garden with friends… Related articles Create With Nature Zone, Blake Garden, Kensington (anaturemom.com) Continue reading »
Take a child out into nature, and what are they naturally drawn to play with? It’s pretty universal… sticks and rocks. So this is the perfect playground for a child… an area filled with sticks and rocks, inviting the child to stack, build, and create. Imaginations went wild this day. In additional to the simple … Continue reading »
We visited the Blake Garden in Kensington (near Berkeley) this week with a group of friends. This garden is not only lovely for adults, but is kid-heaven! The children had a blast playing in this tunnel! My next post will be about the “Create with Nature Zone” at these gardens… awesome! Continue reading »
Photos from visit to Blake Garden, Kensington, August 1st, 2012 Continue reading »
I couldn’t resist this! Butterfly walks are offered by Sally Levinson, aka Caterpillar Lady, the 4th Tuesday of each month at the Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley, March through October. The website said children were welcome, so we decided to check it out this month with friends from my Nature Time! playgroup. This was a … Continue reading »
Taken July 24th, 2012, at the Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley Continue reading »
A visit to the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco has been on our to-do list for a couple months, ever since the Plantosaurus Rex: Prehistoric Plants exhibit opened a couple months ago. Our five-year-old son is still loving anything dinosaur-related, so a visit here was a must-do. We were warned that the roaring of … Continue reading »
What an incredible selection from the tropics. Beautiful gardens, worth a visit! Interested in going? The Conservatory of Flowers is located in Golden Gate Park, near other popular museums and destinations (California Academy of Sciences, de Young Museum). For current admission fee and hours, visit the website… http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/visit/hours. This is an indoor museum, and, need … Continue reading »
My husband, a 5th grade teacher, is now on vacation for the summer. We celebrated the beginning of the season with a family trip to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, located in Golden Gate Park. Neither my husband nor I had been here before, so we were excited to explore. The second Tuesday of each … Continue reading »
For months, my son has been asking when the new Earthquake exhibit will be opening at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Well, it finally opened last weekend, so I took him on Tuesday. How was the exhibit? I thought it was great! First, visitors are shown a short movie about plate tectonics. … Continue reading »
Nectar Garden Fun Day As many of you already know, we’re in the process of creating a butterfly garden in our backyard. So I couldn’t resist attending the Nectar Garden Fun Day with my son yesterday morning at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. This is one of my favorite parks in the East Bay, … Continue reading »
We’ve been making progress in planting our butterfly garden, and now we’ve moved onto the next phase… bees! I’ve been researching citizen science programs that might be fun for me and my son to do together. I love the idea of being a citizen scientist, helping in our own way to assist real scientists by … Continue reading »
For Mother’s Day, I wanted to explore someplace new with my husband and our son. I reviewed my “to-see” list, considered outings in the Marin Headlands and San Francisco, and decided, instead, that it would be a great day for a visit to The Arboretum at the University of California Santa Cruz. And I’m … Continue reading »
After tons of research, I finally decided what to plant in our yard to attract butterflies. As you may know, we’ve been creating a backyard wildlife habit, following the guidelines set forth by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). My first goal in creating our butterfly garden was to add plants to our yard that will … Continue reading »
This Friday, May 11th, is National Public Gardens Day! Better Homes & Gardens and the American Public Garden Association have collaborated to provide free admission to gardens throughout the United States and Canada. What a wonderful program to help people discover and learn about their local gardens! Interested in attending? Sign up through the Better … Continue reading »
Our planned visit today to the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley wasn’t meant to be. Today was free day, and, as a result, there was absolutely no parking. We waited and waited for a spot to open up, but no-one was coming out of the gardens to leave, even though it was raining pretty heavily … Continue reading »
