Member Spotlight: Quarryhill Botanical Garden

My first impression of Quarryhill Botanical Garden is that it’s a little piece of heaven on Earth. It’s a beautiful hidden gem nestled among the hills along Highway 12 in Glen Ellen. Founded in 1987, it features a large well-documented, wild-origin Asian plant collection on 25 acres, cultivated from seeds brought in from East Asia. The garden now contains more than 25,000 plants.

The property was first purchased by Jane Davenport Jansen in 1968 as a vacation home. Jane had a vision to turn the property into a garden and nursey and her vision came to fruition twenty years later. Bill McNamara helped cultivate her idea by participating on the first expedition to Asia to bring back seeds. Mr. McNamara, now the Executive Director of Quarryhill, was recently honored with the prestigious Veitch Memorial Award, and is set to receive the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award — two of horticulture’s highest honors.

The property has a beautiful gazebo and amphitheater perfect for holding an event. Furthermore, there is a cute little guest cottage that can be rented for the night. Visitors can walk along the property and stop at little picnic areas scattered throughout to have lunch and enjoy the scenery. There is also a guided golf cart tour for those visitors that prefer to ride through the garden.

Quarryhill has 15 staff and over 100 volunteers. Its membership base consists of about 700 people and is constantly growing. There is an international spotlight on Quarryhill Botanical Garden with many foreign nationals contributing to and visiting the garden.

Quarryhill will be hosting their 10th Annual Earth Day Celebration on April 22, 2017 from 11am-3pm. Admission to the garden will be free, but there will be a $10 nominal parking fee. If you are unable to attend the Earth Day Celebration, the garden is open year-round every day from 9am-4pm and closed only on major holidays.

If you haven’t seen this beautiful feature of Sonoma County, I highly recommend that you visit. The scenery is beautiful and the tranquility is a nice change from the everyday hustle and bustle. Furthermore, it is a great place to bring guests visiting from outside of Sonoma County.

The Santa Rosa Metro Chamber thanks Quarryhill Botanical Garden for being a valued member!