Video - Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Park in Profile: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Measuring more than 1,000 acres, the Golden Gate Park has stood as a symbol of natural beauty, easily earning the title as one of the most visited city parks in all of America. As San Franciscans turned their attention to the happenings of New York City’s Central Park, residents began to yearn for their own scenic community dwelling. Today, although similar in shape, Golden Gate Park possesses an array of unique and one-of a-kind features that sets it apart from other urban settings.

During the 1860s, plans were put into motion to transform the bleak sand and shore dunes that decorated San Francisco into a usable, inviting park for the all to enjoy. In 1870, a field engineer named William Hammond Hill organized a survey and developed a topographic map that would serve as the blueprint for the new park site. One year later, he was deemed commissioner of the project. At first, the park plans were met with natural opposition as engineers attempted to sketch a course of action that would add traverse roadways throughout the park. The positioning of gems, such as the Concourse and the Arboretum, made this difficult to achieve.

Read more: Golden Gate Park History

Link to the park's website: Golden Gate Park Homepage

The Pacific Orchid Exposition and the Golden Gate Bridge: Where Horticulture meets Architecture

On February 23-26, 2012, the San Francisco Orchid Society’s 60th annual Pacific Orchid Exposition will coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. The festivities will combine the worlds of horticulture and architecture to form a celebration that will not be forgotten.

Location: Fort Mason, Festival Pavilion
Date: February 23-26, 2012
Gala: $45 / $40 online
General: $15 / $13 online
Senior: $12 / $10 online
Weekend Pass: $60 / $55 online
(Gala plus unlimited show access to regular show - excludes special events)

For more information visit: www.orchidsanfrancisco.org

San Francisco Chinese New Year Flower Fair - Feb 6 & 7, 2010

Celebration of Chinese New Year in San Francisco kicks off with the Chinese New Year Flower Fair. Each year, the Chinese New Year Flower Fair takes place the weekend before the lunar new year holiday so that families can come to the flower fair and purchase their traditional holiday plants, flowers and fruits. The Chinese New Year Flower Fair is set in the heart of San Francisco Chinatown and provides a festive atmosphere in which the community can purchase their annual lunar new year flowers and produce while enjoying traditional Chinese dance, music, art and cutural displays. With both residents and visitors, attendance at the two day fair is estimated to be about 400,000.

When:

Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 10am-8pm
Sunday, February 7, 2010 from 9am-6pm

Where:
Grant Avenue from Clay to Broadway
Pacific Avenue from Kearny to Stockton

Follow link for more information> http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/events/flowerfair.html

Victory garden planting planned for fair

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Botanical Garden Society will plant its own Victory Garden on Aug. 1 as part of its annual Summer Gardening Fair. All materials and labor for the two raised beds of edibles have been donated by local organizations and businesses. The Summer Gardening Fair is an annual community event that teaches about plants and gardening. Representatives of local horticultural clubs and conservation organizations will be on hand to provide information, give demonstrations and sell plants, growing materials, gardening gadgets and goodies. The event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 1 at the garden, located in Golden Gate Park at the corner of 9th Avenue at Lincoln Way in San Francisco. Admission is free. For information, contact (415) 661-1316 or sfbotanicalgarden.org.

Video: Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw)

Neville gets a close look at the beautiful Kangaroo Paw plant, growing in a garden in San Francisco, California.

S.F. native's quest to fill city with natives

Patricia Yollin, Special to The Chronicle

Greg Gaar sounded like an air traffic controller who'd just spotted the biggest plane in the world.

"Here's a butterfly coming in right now!" he shouted. "It's a red admiral."

The butterfly had come to the right place: The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council's Native Plant Nursery lures all kinds of wildlife to the southeast corner of Golden Gate Park. Gaar, however, would like to attract more humans to the undertaking he started five years ago.

"I want people to know that we exist," said the 61-year-old ecologist. "My main problem is marketing - it certainly is not propagating plants."

Read more:

Brugmansia (Angel's Trumpet) Pictures

Recent pictures taken of flowering Brugmansia plants in Union Square, San Francisco, CA (photo credit - lhc):