After years of drought, the winter has brought an abundance of much needed rain to California, and some very WILD flowers are getting ready to put on a particularly vibrant show this spring and summer right in the heart of the city at San Francisco Botanical Garden.

Many of the more than 8,500 kinds of plants in the Garden’s collections are native to mediterranean habitats worldwide, flowering brilliantly after a wet winter soaks ground parched during the rainless summer. Starting in April and extending through August, the largest portion of the Garden’s collections comes into bloom.

The season will bring vivid and WILD profusions of flowers in the Garden of California Native Plants, the Mediterranean Garden, and the Zellerbach Garden of Perennials. A spectacular variety of protea will explode with huge, fiery flowers in the South African Garden. In the Succulent Garden, the puya will send up massive towers of unearthly flowers that look like something from outer space. And nearby, a native of Mexico, the magic dogwood, will dazzle with spiraling, white flowers that perch on its limbs like exotic lanterns.

Visitors to the Garden can take advantage of free must-see maps for both spring and summer, docent-led tours, and more, as well as unique classes and activities, to celebrate and learn more about significant flowerings.

WHAT:                      
WILD Flowers at San Francisco Botanical Garden – the spring and summer flowering of many unusual and rare plants

WHEN:                      
April 1-August 31, 2017; open every day

TIME:                        
9 AM to 6 PM (spring and summer – closing times vary in other seasons)

WHERE:                        
San Francisco Botanical Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

COST:                        
FREE with regular admission as follows:

San Francisco Residents: FREE with proof of residency
Non-residents: $8 general, $6 youth 12-17 & seniors; $2 children 5-11; children 4 and under FREE; families of 2 adults and one or more child pay just $17

The Garden is free daily 7:30-9am and all day on second Tuesdays of the month

INFORMATION:            
www.SFBotanicalGarden.org, (415) 661-1316

Bean Sprouts Family Days
Saturdays, April 1 – October 28; 1-4pm
FREE with regular admission

Journey out to the Children's Garden to enjoy hands-on outdoor fun! Create colorful crafts with flowers, help weed and water the garden, read a book, or play a nature game with our staff and teen interns. Suitable for families with children ages 3-10. Drop in at any time during the program; heavy rain cancels.

Children’s Story Time in the Library
First and third Sundays of every month year-round; 10:30-11:30am
FREE (admission applies for docent walks following story readings; free for SF residents and Garden members)

Come celebrate weird and WILD plants, pollination, redwood trees, and more in the Garden! Enjoy a special story in the library on a different theme each month at 10:30am (see below), then take a guided walk through the Garden that connects that morning’s story to living plants. Best for families with children aged 4-8.

April 2 & 16: Golden State Plants
May 7 & 21: Weird and WILD Plants
June 4 & 18: Pollination Celebration
July 2 & 16: Flower Power
August 6 & 20: Grow Giants