Westside gardens
Photos by Elizabeth Byers
Spring 2008
The Historic Gardens of Alcatraz
- a project of the Garden Conservancy - recently received two awards from the California Preservation Foundation.
Alcatraz staff family in an Officers' Row garden, circa 1869
Photo by Eadweard Muybridge, Bancroft Library
Roadside Gardens, 2009
The Garden Conservancy became involved in 2003 with spearheading the rehabilitation of the heritage gardens on The Rock: now a National Historic Landmark,
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The 22-acre island, part of the National Park Services Golden Gate National Recreation Area, is the GGNRA's most visited site, with some 1.3 million annual visitors
hopping a ferry ride from San Francisco to see Alcatraz first-hand.
Officers' Row, 2009
A brilliant team of volunteers have gardened and toiled
to restore the uniquely stunning landscape.
A tour is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure! The gardens shown to you within the context of history, horticulture, and cultural significance.
Enjoyed my visit to the Alcatraz gardens. Had no idea they had such a beautiful garden.
ReplyDeleteHi AliceA~~ Alcatraz is such an enigmatic place. I've never been but I've seen TV shows [Discovery Channel I think] that go into great detail about its history. I certainly wouldn't mind a visit some day. The garden photos are beautiful. With the ocean spray and brutal winds, I suppose the planners have to be choosy with their plant choices which makes its success all the sweeter.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice! I remember we visited the island several years ago, but just the buildings. I'd love to see the gardens. Pictures are very promising.
ReplyDeleteMD, Grace, Tatyana,
ReplyDeleteFor so long visitors saw only the buildings. These past 5 years or so, the gardens have come back to life.
Grace, 'enigmatic' is apropos for 'The Rock.' A strangely compelling place that seems to have secrets beyond what you can see on the isolated terrain of this island.
Planting is tricky indeed, when it comes to finding species that will adapt to an often harsh environment.
What stunning photos of wonderful gardens. I agree with Grace about the harsh conditions, must be hard to garden there.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful garden by the sea and Alcatraz Island is such a fascinating place.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful! Something I knew nothing about too.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting, and I loved those Irises.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice, thanks for this. We rode that ferry when we lived in CA in the 80s. We had no idea about the gardens and it seems such a worthwhile venture. The water makes a perfect backdrop in the 1869 shot. Wonderful! :-)
ReplyDeleteFrances
I visited Alcatraz back in the late '80s and the "Rock" really could've used some color back then. Gives me a reason to go back next time we're out that way.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! I would like to visit this garden someday.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour of Alcatraz garden. I esp. like the old historical photos and the Spring garden photo with the Iris!
ReplyDeleteRosey
I hope everyone might have a chance to visit Alcatraz to see in person what the volunteers and minimal staff have accomplished. If not, I plan to keep you updated with the evolving landscape.
ReplyDeleteAs summer turns toward the fall, I look forward to reading about your gardens! Mine is full of blooming pink anemones at the moment......
This has been on my 'to visit' list for quite awhile now, so thanks for the beautiful photos - it's now moved to the top of the list! I can't wait to see it in person!
ReplyDeleteAh Rebecca, wouldn't it be great to visit together :))
ReplyDeleteThis takes the cake for "most unexpected garden location". And it's the final prod to get me on the ferry to Alcatraz, after spending most of my life in Northern California. Thank you for this great post!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going on my list of places to visit next time I'm in SF. Love that old black and white photo!
ReplyDeleteOne day, come the Revolution, I'll be seeing a whole lot more places with gardens in 'em. Alcatraz has its own mythology already; just add gardens to that.
ReplyDeleteI love that you wrote about this. When we went to Alcatraz fifteen years ago, they were just starting to talk about recreating the gardens. Don't you know they needed some beauty in all that rock? Thanks for such an interesting post.~~Dee
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