Enjoying the Outdoors
Visitors can check out Balboa Park which features 16 unique gardens. These sites include the Japanese Friendship Garden, the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden (featuring over 2,400 rose bushes), and the Botanical Building, which features a fascinating collection of cycads, ferns, orchids and palms. You can sign up for a Botanic Building Garden Tour to learn about the origins, design, and horticulture that’s featured in the building. There are 15 other museums and a number of parks to explore, including the San Diego Zoo.
You can check out San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, which is known for its wonderful botanical collections. Both parks employ a team of horticulturists, arborists and gardeners who care for more than a millions plants. The Safari Park is known for its accredited collections, including Baja Garden, Old World Succulent Garden, Conifer Forest, figs, palms, and the Native Scapes Garden.
For garden lovers who want to get a bit of exercise in, the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas includes four miles of garden trails. These paths display a wide collection of native and endangered plants, a whimsical children’s garden, and the nation’s largest collection of bamboo species.