Gardens to Visit
Find a California Friendly Garden® near you.
Visit these gardens throughout Southern California for a firsthand look at how beautiful a water-wise landscape can be.
Orange County
Fullerton
1900 Associated Rd. 657-278-3407
The Fullerton Arboretum is the largest botanical garden in Orange County. Encompassing 26 acres, the arboretum has a permanent collection of more than 4,000 unique and unusual plant species from around the world.
Huntington Beach
17851 Goldenwest St. 714-842-4772
Five waterwise gardens within the Shipley Nature Preserve showcase how to use native plants in a home garden. The gardens include a butterfly garden, hummingbird garden, riparian garden, waterwise garden and color garden.
Orange
Orange County Coastkeeper Garden
1560 East Santiago Canyon Rd. 714-850-1965
The 2.5 acre Orange County Coastkeeper Garden hosts plants from six southern California native habitats as well as drought-tolerant plants. The Garden incorporates six California Friendly® vignettes (garden rooms) into "backyard" landscapes that harmonize with the native plant habitat throughout the Garden.
San Clemente
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
415 Avenida Granada 949-498-2139
The historic home of San Clemente founder Ole Hanson has 2.5 acres of coastal gardens. Visitors can stroll through the Native American Garden, Butterfly Garden, Herb Garden, Native Plant Garden, and a Woodland Garden.
Westminster
6312 California Ave. 714-548-3690
The garden features nearly 20 species of drought tolerant plants and trees.
Los Angeles County
Arcadia
Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden
301 North Baldwin Ave. 626-821-3222
The Arboretum offers a variety of gardens and landscapes that offer beauty and tranquility as well as ideas for your outdoor space at home. Visit each of the 10 gardens, including the Water Conservation Garden that showcases plants from Mediterranean climates around the world.
Claremont
1500 N. College Ave. 909-624-0838
The California Botanic Garden is the largest botanic garden dedicated to California’s native plants. You can explore diverse gardens and plant collections, take a tour, or learn from experts at a class.
Covina
Native Plant Demonstration Garden at Covina Public Library
234 N. Second Ave. 626-967-3935
A water-wise garden and mural depicting the history of the library help tell the local story of Southern California’s heritage.
La Cañada Flintridge
1418 Descanso Drive. 818-949-4200
The Center Circle garden presents a new look for Southern California gardens, where the traditional lawn is replaced by vibrant, lower maintenance plants.
La Crescenta
Crescenta Valley Water District Demonstration Garden
2700 Foothill Blvd. 818-248-3925
This garden showcases hardy plants from the local area.
Manhattan Beach
Manhattan Beach Botanical Garden
1236 N. Peck Ave. 310-546-1354
A children’s garden, meditation garden, succulent slope and wildflower meadows offer inspiration to South Bay gardeners interested in using native and California Friendly® plants.
Palos Verdes Peninsula
26300 Crenshaw Boulevard 310-544-1948
The 87-acre South Coast Botanic Garden offers a variety of gardens to delight and inspire visitors. Specialty gardens include the Cactus Garden, Mediterranean Garden, WaterWise Garden, and Garden for the Senses.
Pasadena
295 Arlington Drive 626-441-4478
Home to 350 trees and thousands of Mediterranean climate plants that do well with low to moderate watering, the garden features California natives, cactus and succulents, South African and Australian natives, irrigated by low flow devices that use less than half the water demanded by traditional parks.
Rancho Dominguez
Garden at the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum
18127 S. Alameda St. 310-603-0088
The Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum is a registered California State Historic Landmark that depicts early California history. The museum includes a beautiful cactus garden with an extensive collection of cacti.
San Fernando
2025 4th St. 818-898-1290
This park features native and California Friendly® plants, walking paths, a Japanese tea house and historic water tower. The park commemorates the Fernandeño Tataviam tribal culture and San Fernando’s heritage.
San Marino
The Huntington Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road 626-405-2100
The Huntington has more than a dozen spectacular gardens spread across 120 acres, including a renowned desert garden with thousands of species of desert cacti and succulents. Drought-tolerant plants for landscaping are used extensively around new installations.
Santa Monica
Airport Avenue Demonstration Gardens
3200 Airport Ave. 310-458-8405
This collection of three distinct sustainable landscapes provides everything you need for your own home landscape. Whether you are looking for an eco-friendly lawn alternative, a vegetable garden, a private sanctuary, or an outdoor room, these gardens feature it all.
Torrance
3201 Plaza del Amo 310-782-3989
A California Friendly® landscape offers myriad ideas to gardeners looking to use locally native and California Friendly® plants instead of traditional turf and shrubs. The garden is adjacent to a visitor’s center and the Madrona Marsh preserve.
Woodland Hills
S. Mark Taper Foundation Life Science Botanic Garden
Pierce College, 6201 Winnetka Ave. 818-719-6465
The courtyard near the administration building is a 1.9-acre botanical garden including plants from the seven major worldwide Mediterranean climate zones. Unusual looking and hard-to-find plants are featured, and all are suitable for Southern California’s climate.
Riverside County
Riverside
University of California, Riverside Botanic Gardens
900 University Ave. 909-787-4650
Covering 400 acres, this living plant museum has more than 3,500 plant species from around the world. Its collection includes native California plants, rose, cactus, herb and iris gardens as well as a subtropical fruit orchard.
Riverside
Landscapes Southern California Style
Western Municipal Water District
450 E. Alessandro Blvd. 951-571-7100
More than 200 species of California Friendly® plants are artfully displayed in residential-style landscapes on this one-acre park. A self-guided tour and educational materials are available on site.
San Bernardino County
Alta Loma
5131 Carnelian St. 909-980-0412
Designed to complement the historic residence and workshop of renowned furniture maker and designer Sam Maloof, the Maloof Discovery Garden demonstrates the practical ways a garden can reflect California native and other Mediterranean plants.
Chino
Inland Empire Utilities Agency
6075 Kimball Ave. 909-993-1600
The landscape surrounding IEUA’s LEED Platinum Certified headquarters features innovative technologies and practices for capturing run-off, as well as using California Friendly® plants to create a beautiful and sustainable outdoor space.
Montclair
Chino Basin Water Conservation District
Water Wise Demonstration Garden
4594 San Bernardino St. 909-626-2711
The 1.75 acre garden is a Certified Wildlife Habitat® and has numerous model gardens to help homeowners identify water wise plants that would look good in a home landscape.
San Diego County
El Cajon
12122 Cuyamaca College Drive West 619-660-0614
On nearly five acres, this water-wise gardening treasure trove is filled with displays that showcase water conservation through a series of beautiful themed gardens, such as a native plant garden and a vegetable garden, as well as how-to displays such as mulch and irrigation exhibits.
Encinitas
230 Quail Gardens Drive 760-632-0917
The 37-acre garden represents 15 different regions of the world as well as 12 demonstration gardens. The garden includes rare bamboo groves, desert gardens, a tropical rainforest, California native plants, Mediterranean climate landscapes and a subtropical fruit garden.
La Mesa
9001 Wakarusa St. 619-667-1307
Briercrest Park, adjacent to the Grossmont Healthcare District Library and Conference Center, features a variety of gardens including butterfly, texture and fragrance, and a large play area. The park is designed to provide a healing, nurturing experience.
Ventura County
Camarillo
7385 Santa Rosa Rd. 805-388-0226
Area residents can take free landscaping classes, or just enjoy the gardens and naturalistic plantings surrounding Camrosa’s headquarters. This native and drought-tolerant design is filled with ideas for home gardens.
Thousand Oaks
The California True Colors Garden
1385 E. Janss Rd. 805-381-2744
Many of the plants selected for the gardens are California “All-Stars” and some will be used for data gathering as part of the UC Davis Arboretum “All-Star” research programs.