Luther Burbank Home and Gardens is a city park containing the former home, greenhouse, gardens, and grave of noted American

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

Luther Burbank Luther Burbank (March 7, 1849 – April 11, 1926) was an American botanist, horticulturist and pioneer in agricultural science. He developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 55-year career. Burbank's varied creations incl ...

(1849-1926). It is located at the intersection of Santa Rosa Avenue and Sonoma Avenue in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The park is open daily without charge; a fee is charged for guided tours. It is designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

as well as a California Historical Landmark (#234).

History

Burbank lived in Santa Rosa for more than 50 years, and performed the bulk of his life's work at this location. From 1884 to 1906 he lived in this park's

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

house; he then moved across Tupper street to a house that no longer exists. After Burbank's death in 1926, his widow Elizabeth moved back to the house, where she remained until her death in 1977. Burbank, a native of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, was a nationally known figure who was responsible for creating many new varieties of plants. He is credited with introducing more than 250 new varieties of

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

, including a large number of

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

varieties that are widely used in agriculture. A portion of the property was declared a

in 1964.Cecil McKithan (1977-10-17) , National Park Service and The site is included n the official Santa Rosa historic landmarks and the Sonoma County Historical Society list of landmarks.

Gardens

The gardens include many of Burbank's horticultural introductions, with collections of

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

trees, ornamental

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

es, medicinal

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s, and walnuts. Most plants are labeled with botanic and common names. The garden's greenhouse was designed and built by Burbank in 1889; Burbank's grave is nearby, underneath a

Cedar of Lebanon ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burbank, Luther, Home and Gardens Botanical gardens in California Farm museums in California Houses in Santa Rosa, California Historic house museums in California Museums in Santa Rosa, California Parks in Sonoma County, California California Historical Landmarks National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area National Register of Historic Places in Sonoma County, California Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California Gardens in California History of Sonoma County, California Greek Revival houses in California

History

Gardens

See also

References

External links