The UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden is a research and teaching facility committed to plant conservation and serves both the campus and the public. Its rich and diverse collection, containing representatives of more than 300 plant families, provides beginning students with a broad survey of the plant kingdom. Facilities for growing plants offer students and research faculty opportunities to experiment with living plants.
Garden events educate and engage the public about plant diversity and conservation. Of service to the public and the nursery industry are the Garden’s activities in importing, selecting, and breeding choice ornamental plants, especially those that are drought tolerant and pest resistant. To date, the Garden is the original importer of more than 1,500 different selections of choice ornamentals. Many of these have been and will continue to be the plants of future for California gardens.
