Organic Garden Club members experienced a gorgeous day for a tour at the Ventura Botanical Garden lead by Dr. Joe Cahill, the Executive Director. We walked through gardens representing the earth’s five Mediterranean climate zones and their native plants. Southern California being one of the five, the plants, after being established, thrive in our environment. 

Joe started our tour in the Chilean Gardens which were ablaze with colorful blooms, even the cactuses had amazing flowers. One of the missions of the Botanic Garden is to plant unusual varieties, like the Chilean Soapbark Tree, which contains immunity compounds included in the shingles and Covid vaccines, as well as an ingredient in personal care products. 

The arrangement of the native plant communities as they occur in nature inspired us to engage our senses with the environment. We experienced the scents, sights, and sounds of edible and environmentally sustainable gardens, pollinators, threatened plant species, wildlife habitats, all in vibrant colors in the clean ocean air.

Another goal of the Garden, Joe, our expert guide, shared includes protecting and propagating endangered species, like the impressive Chilean Wine Palm, which can grow to 80 feet tall. It is also protected in Chile, as winemakers killed the tree to harvest the gallons of honey sweet sap.  In their nursery, plants are propagated and nurtured before planting them in the Garden, creating a library of plants and seeds to insure their long term survival.

The Botanic Garden also grows edible varieties of plants, like the tasty fruit of the Chilean Guava Berry tree. In the California Section are the pine trees with the pine nuts, prized by the Chumash nations as an important food source for the fat, protein, zinc, and magnesium they provided.  In the Mediterranean section, there are olive tree groves.

On our tour, we came across artistic benches with lovely views of the ocean and educational signage that have been sponsored by Garden donors. Joe told us about the many benefits that Annual Membership include, like special events, parties, and lectures, like the upcoming one with Organic Garden Club member, Michael Wittman. https://venturabotanicalgardens.com/ways-to-give/#site-sponsorship 

We enjoyed the Cape of South Africa Fynbos Garden, abundant with dramatic protea in a wide range of colors from pinks, creams, orange and reds. The King Protea blooms last a very long time and is the national plant of South Africa. This is the oldest area established in the Botanical Garden and also has flowering Ericas, bulbs, and geraniums. We enjoyed the picturesque bridge, dry creek bed, and a lovely view of the Pacific Ocean.

From the Summit Plateau, we saw decades old California pepper trees and found a wonderful event venue ablaze with Australian Strawflowers. We viewed the Karoo Gardens with aloe plants and an unique labyrinth with uplifting engravings on the walls and seats and a great view of the ocean.

On the way back to the Welcome Center, Joe lead us down a short cut of several stairways, through the wildflowers of the California Ramble, a Volcanic outcrop, and the ribbed barreled cactus, where each area is designed to replicate plant communities as they occur in nature.

Organic Garden Club members ended their Ventura experience at the organic farm to table Harvest Cafe for lunch.