“I firmly believe, from what I have seen, that this is the chosen spot of all this earth as far as Nature is concerned.” – Luther Burbank
Famed botanist Luther Burbank arrived in Sonoma County in 1875 and dedicated himself to breeding new fruits and flowers. Today, the North Bay remains a land rich in flora. Whether scouring nurseries in search of unique plants to bring home to your own backyard garden or simply admiring the local work of others, the North Bay is a treasure for botanists, horticulturists, and gardeners of all skill levels.
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| California Carnivores NurseryPhoto by Gwen Harlow |
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| Luther Burbank Home and Gardens Photo by Jeff Tabaco |
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| Baker Creek Seed Bank Photo by Ruth Temple |
A trip down many a North Bay road leads to scores of specialized nurseries and a look at Sebastopol alone gives you an idea of the diversity and wealth of resources available. Sonoma Horticultural Nursery specializes in rhododendrons and azaleas. The garden and nursery is open year-round to visitors who are welcomed to get lost in their eight acres of demonstration gardens with over one-and-a-half miles of pathways leading over, under and around ponds, arches, benches and gazebos – you’ll think you’ve stepped into a living Monet.
Sebastopol is also home to Vintage Gardens, purveyor of 2,000 varieties of old and extraordinary roses, including Teas, Hybrid Perpetuals, Damask Perpetuals, Bourbons, Noisettes and Old Hybrid Teas, and one of the more unique nurseries, California Carnivores. This little shop of horrors is the largest carnivorous plant nursery and store in the United States and an extremely popular destination where visitors and patrons can see firsthand how these plants of prey – Venus flytraps, American pitcher plants, sundews, butterworts, bladderworts, tropical pitcher plants and others – feed themselves. The nursery even supplies utensils for feeding and magnifying glasses for an up close view.
Also in the realm of the unique, the Baker Creek Seed Bank in Petaluma offers one of California’s largest selections of organic and heirloom seeds, 1,200 varieties in all. Housed in the historic former home of the Sonoma County Bank, The Seed Bank is one of only three retail locations for Missouri based Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, which runs a huge mail-order business. According to store manager Paul Wallace, Baker Creek chose the location because the North Bay is home to the biggest concentration of its customers, with 50% of California orders coming from a within a one hour radius of Petaluma. Baker Creek is unique for collecting and offering many ethnic varieties of seeds, as well as carrying one of the largest selections of seeds from the 19th century. If you’re looking for Striata D’Italia Squash, Ali Baba Watermelon or Red Ruffled Eggplant, you’re in luck.
To learn more about the man who started it all here in Santa Rosa, you can visit the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens, now a Santa Rosa City Park, and the locale where Burbank experimented with plants for most of his 50-year career. A visit includes the museum (located in the Carriage House), gift shop, and tours of the home, Greenhouse (which is said to have survived the 1906 earthquake without losing a single pane of glass) and more than an acre of gardens. You can even follow along with a self-guided tour on your phone. Here’s a snippet from the Greenhouse tour. The public tour season is from April through October, but the gardens are open year-round. This small gem located in downtown Santa Rosa is a wonderful way to take in a little local history and learn about one of the true Santa Rosa pioneers.
This is just a sampling of what can be found, but nearly every North Bay town has its own specialty, locally-owned nursery for purchasing and learning about plants – and a walk down many of our tree-lined streets shows that Luther’s legacy is alive and well in our front and back yards.
Interested in crops and local harvest? See also:
Reason #66: Hard, Soft, Aromatic, Pungent – and Delicious No Matter How You Slice It
Reason #62: Searching for the Great Pumpkin
Reason #50: Organic at our Fingertips
Reason #48: Fall Flavors in a Glass
Follow along as the full list unfolds – 100 Reasons Why We Love Where We Live
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Frank Howard Allen Realtors
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