SF’s Weird & Wild Flowers That Bloom in April
It’s been a wet winter and that means spring is going to be crazy good at San Francisco Botanical Garden … the curators tell us that everything is budding up and looking very juicy …
After four dry years, this winter has brought much needed rain to California, and some very wild flowers are getting ready to put on a particularly vibrant show this spring and summer at San Francisco Botanical Garden (SFBG).
Starting in April the first waves of profuse blooms should begin with all the iris in the Garden of California Native Plants and the red poppies in the Mediterranean Garden … yum!
Not to mention some very weird blooms … early April, the out-of-this-world Puya chilensis in the Succulent Garden will send up 8 foot flower stalks that look like some kind of crazy medieval maces …
The 8-foot-tall Puya Chilensis blooms in April – Photo: Brendan Lange
And then the pincushion proteas begin to bloom, which are these South African flowers that look like fuzzy, psychedelic space ships … all of this profusion brings in a ton of wildlife so the Garden fills with hummingbirds and butterflies and bees …
Pincushion Proteas – Leucospermum ‘Veldfire’. Photo by Mona Bourell.
A spectacular variety of protea will bristle with huge, fiery flowers in the South African Garden. The magic dogwood is set to dazzle with its spiraling, white flowers that perch on its limbs like exotic lanterns. The monkey’s hand tree will explode with what seems like hundreds of small, open hands extending from its crimson flowers. The season will also bring vivid and wild profusions of flowers in the Garden of California Native Plants, the Mediterranean Garden, and the Zellerbach Garden of Perennials.
Wild Flowers at San Francisco Botanical Garden
April 1-August 31, 2016; open every day | 9 am to 6 pm (spring and summer)
San Francisco Botanical Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Tickets: FREE with proof of San Francisco residency
Non-residents: $7 general, $5 youth 12-17 & seniors; $2 children 5-11; children 4 and under FREE; families of 2 adults and one or more child pay just $15The Garden is free daily 7:30-9 am and all day on second Tuesdays of the month.
The Garden is a unique home to a huge variety of remarkable and rare plants, including many no longer found in their native habitats. Fantastical flora from the farthest reaches of the globe can be found in 55 acres of geographically specific gardens from South Africa to Chile. Many of the more than 8,000 kinds of plants in the Garden’s collections are native to mediterranean habitats worldwide, flowering brilliantly after a wet winter soaks ground parched during the rainless summer. Starting in April and extending through August, the largest portion of the Garden’s collections comes into bloom, drawing a huge host of pollinators to its bounty of remarkable and rare plants. Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees will put on a spectacular show, lured by the abundance of flowers and the food they offer.
Visitors to the Garden can take advantage of free must-see maps for both spring and summer, docent-led tours, and more to celebrate and learn more about significant flowerings.
