San Diego Botanic Garden Offers Plants and Play

By Nicola Bridges

San Diego Botanic Garden is an urban oasis for plant-loving adults. Four miles of trails meander through 37 acres, featuring more than 5,000 plant species in 29 uniquely themed gardens representing more than 15 different domestic and worldwide habits.

For children, it's a natural wonderland, home to three children's gardens that entertain, fascinate, foster learning and seed a love for the outdoors, nature, plants and play in very engaging ways. Located in coastal Encinitas, California, just 30 minutes north of San Diego, it's a must-see for families. On a recent tour of the children's gardens, which feature jungle canopies, mountain streams and interactive elements, I just wanted to be a kid again.

Hamilton Children's Garden, located near the main entrance just past the pollinator garden of fragrant flowers, is the flagship of the three. Excited kids and parents pushing strollers under the gazebo structure entryway are welcomed by a wondrously inviting magical area with multiple places to explore.

There's a small maze, a beautiful sundial and an oversized tic-tac-toe on the ground. Elephant trees with giant stout trunks (not native to California) look otherworldly. And just ahead, there it is, the piece de resistance for kiddie play: Toni's Tree House.

The lifelike structure resembling a real tree is three levels tall, features climbing ladders, a rope bridge and a lookout point, and it is large enough for adults to accompany their kids. It's dripping with real plants, and as you climb up to the lookout, you feel as though you're exploring the canopy of trees in the tropics.

"We're all about having people discover plants and the wisdom of plants," explained my host, Tomoko Kuta, SDBG's chief operations and experience officer. "Plants are very attuned to the environment, light and water, and we're very attuned to our guests."

SDBG is also outwardly conscious. Portions of Toni's Tree House are ADA accessible. Wheelchairs can enter at the highest point so as not to miss out on the full foliage experience.

To kick the fun factor up a notch, every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning from 10 a.m. to noon, there are interactive activities as part of a program called SAPLinGS: Science, Art and PLay in Garden Spaces. Kids ages 2 to 12 can participate in hands-on projects, such as dissecting plants and learning how they live and regenerate, all adapted to their level of understanding.

When it's time to move on, head for a demo garden of flavors called Incredible Edibles.

"Every plant is edible and safe for kids to taste," Kuta said, "including tomatoes, beans, sunflowers, edible seeds and seasonal vegetables from delicious cucumbers to mulberry tree fruit."

Also on offer is the recently installed Healing Garden, an A to Z of 26 plants and herbs showcasing the ways different cultures have used plants in healing.

A meandering path stamped with leaves and plants winds around behind the tree house and ends up at the Mountain Stream -- a very cool water feature where kids can kick off their shoes and splash around in the very clean stream.

Continue along the path and you arrive at a little amphitheater stage area, where every Friday morning, Grandma Kathy teaches and entertains children and families using puppets, pompoms, and bells and tells stories to connect kids to plants and nature.

Throughout the children's gardens are hidden nooks and crannies. My favorite?

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A worm composting area, where the worms get brought out for show and tell.

Also here is a little area for arts and crafts and a natural-materials percussion instrument area featuring a xylophone made of flat rocks.

"There's always laughter, music and singing in the garden," Kuta said, "and plenty of picnic tables and shade for taking breaks."

Finally comes the Seeds of Wonder garden. It's quieter and more grown-in with lots of trees and bushes, a little playhouse, a sandbox with digging toys, dinosaur sculptures for toddlers to play on and a bubbling splash water feature. Next door is the Junior Quail Trail, an open meadowlike space with logs, tree stumps for jumping around on and a picnic area.

"What I love is there's something for every child," Kuta said. "Want to run around? Great, kids can do that. Build little forts? Sure, do it. Want to taste plants? Love it! They can do that, too. It's outdoors and there's always a cacophony of kids, but it's still calming. You hear the birds and smell the fragrances. All the rose bushes, for example. It's just wonderful."

Kuta ended my tour philosophically.

"Just like plants, we're always evolving and growing," she said. "The SAPLinGS program in the Hamilton Garden, for example, is seasonal and always changing. We showcase the beauty of nature, the wisdom of plants and how they respond to the environment. There's always a lot for us to learn about the planet and plants. For kids, play for the sake of play is important, but we take education seriously and have created imaginative spaces and experiences to merge the two."

The adult in me concurs. The kid in me wants to come back. Again and again and again.

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WHEN YOU GO

The San Diego Botanic Garden is open six days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Tuesdays. Last ticket entry at 4 p.m. Online ticket purchase and reservations recommended. Adults, $18; youths 3-17, $10; children under 3, free: www.sdbg.org.

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Nicola Bridges is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.