San Francisco Botanical Garden

Formerly the Strybing Arboretum, the newly-minted San Francisco Botanical Garden feels oddly placed, a green oasis in the middle of the large urban maze that is San Francisco. It boasts 55 acres and is divided into mini themed gardens such as the cloud forests from the Andes, Meso-America, and Southeast Asia, the Garden of Fragrance, as well as the California Native Garden and a redwood grove. What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon!

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In the heart of Golden Gate Park lies a maze of gardens open to the public year round. In the summer, the San Francisco Botanical Garden is a lush panoply of flora. In the winter, it’s austere grounds in which to wander, linger, contemplate, and be vastly alone. Organized into various randomly themed gardens including “Jurassic” and “Chile," “Garden of Fragrance” and “Succulents,” a slow meander offers up many surprises and bursts of color and aroma. The rhododendron bloom wildly in the dead of January. The redwood mini-forest looms mightily over its meeker neighbors. The giant, crusty aloe plants are like indestructible dinosaurs. Free for locals, small fee if you're from out of town.

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