South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes Hills contains 87 landscaped acres of 150,000 plants and trees from all around the world. With its arid desert cacti, palm groves, fruit orchard and fuchsia gardens, the collection has something everyone will love. The garden also shows our ability to change the past. It is built upon an open mine pit which turned into a landfill for eight years from 1957-65. Today, the gardens cover 3.5 million tons of garbage but is a great example of land recycling.
#221 San Diego Botanic Garden
The San Diego Botanic Garden showcases beautifully landscaped gardens and trails by the sea. California natives, desert gardens, lush tropical rainforests and the largest bamboo collection in the country are among the 3,000 varieties from Africa and South America to Asia and beyond. Stop and smell the flowers along four miles of trails.
#211 The Flower Fields
Each Spring, the coastal hills of The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch burst with color. Fifty acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculus bloom from March to May and provide gorgeous views of the ocean. Frank Frazee cultivated 13 colors over the years from just red and yellow. He first planted his fields in 1933 and modeled them after his horticulturist neighbor Luther Gage. This local treasure continues every year and helps put Carlsbad on the map.
#13 Santa Barbara Orchid Estate
Orchids Orchids Orchids. The Santa Barbara Orchid Estate has been one of the world's foremost growers and collections for more than five decades. Being right near the ocean has proved to be the perfect environment for growing orchids. Whether you are an expert or admirer, the estate has something to delight everyone.
