Arizona Cactus Garden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arizona Cactus Garden, partial view.
Enlarge
Arizona Cactus Garden, partial view.

The Arizona Cactus Garden (30,000 square feet), also known as the Stanford Cactus Garden, is a botanical garden specializing in cactus and succulents. It is located on the campus of Stanford University (within the Stanford University Arboretum, and near the Stanford Family Mausoleum and the Angel of Grief), Palo Alto, California, USA, and open to the public daily without charge.

The garden was first planted between 1880 and 1883 for Jane and Leland Stanford to a design by landscape architect Rudolph Ulrich. It was planned to be adjacent to their new residence, and part of the larger gardens for the Stanford estate. However, the home was never built. The garden was regularly maintained until the 1920s after which it fell into great disrepair.

Volunteer restoration work began in 1997 and is ongoing. Notwithstanding decades of neglect, some of the original plants remain. The garden now contains approximately 500 cacti and succulents in 58 beds, broadly divided into two major sections. The Eastern Hemisphere section is planted with aloes, jade plants and other succulents from Europe, Asia, and Africa, and the Western Hemisphere section holds cacti native to the Americas. Historic plants, comprising some 10-15% of the plantings, have been left in their original locations. As of July 2006, the plants were not labeled.

[edit] See also

[edit] External References


Leland Stanford Junior University

Places

ArboretumArizona Cactus GardenCantor Center for Visual ArtsEl Palo Alto • Frost Ampitheater • Green LibraryHoover TowerStanford MausoleumStanford Memorial ChurchStanford Research ParkStanford Shopping Center