Santa Barbara Botanic Garden facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Santa Barbara Botanic Garden |
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The central meadow region of the Botanic Garden, looking north
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| Type | Botanical garden |
| Location | Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara, California, United States |
| Area | 78 acres (32 ha) |
The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is a special place in Santa Barbara, California. It's a large botanical garden, covering 78 acres. Here, you can find over 1,000 different kinds of plants. Many of these plants are rare or naturally grow only in California.
The garden's main goal is to show off California native plants in a way that looks natural. It has about 9.2 kilometers (5.7 miles) of trails for you to explore. A creek called Mission Creek flows through the garden. There's even an old rock dam built in 1806 by Native Americans, mainly the Canaliño people. They built it under the guidance of Spanish padres from the nearby Mission Santa Barbara.
The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden first opened in 1926. A famous landscape architect named Beatrix Farrand helped design it. By 1936, the garden decided to focus only on plants that grow naturally in the California region. This area includes parts of Oregon and Baja California, as well as most of California. The garden became a Santa Barbara County Landmark in 1983. The historic dam on Mission Creek was already a State Historic Landmark before that.
Discovering New Plants
The garden has a special program to create new types of plants. This is called a plant breeding program. Scientists at the garden work to develop new varieties of native California plants. These new plants might be stronger, more beautiful, or better suited for different environments. This helps protect and share California's unique plant life.
Overcoming the Jesusita Fire
In May 2009, a large wildfire called the Jesusita Fire affected part of the Botanic Garden. The fire burned many areas in the Santa Ynez Mountains behind Santa Barbara. While the garden's plant displays have grown back, some buildings were destroyed. These buildings included the Gane House, which was over a hundred years old. It held many tools and library books for the garden. The fire also destroyed the garden director's home and a wooden deck.
The garden has been working hard to replace what was lost. In 2015, they started building the new John C. Pritzlaff Conservation Center. This new building is located where the old Gane House used to be. It helps the garden continue its important work of protecting California's plants.
See also
In Spanish: Jardín botánico de Santa Bárbara para niños
