Made in the Shade
No need to wait for spring to enjoy the verdant pleasures of the Fullerton Arboretum. The Heritage House, a century-old Victorian cottage amid the 26-acre botanical and cultivated-plant collection, has reopened for tours. The Summit House, a faux English manor amid the native flora of nearby Vista Park, is another perennial favorite. (And the nut house is reserved for garden enthusiasts who don’t check out the arboretum’s weekend plant sales.)
AFTERNOON 1
Just inside the Fullerton Arboretum is a small waterfall modeled after a real one in the Sierra Nevada. Farther along the path, a redwood grove boasts sequoias, and a primitive plants garden reveals “living fossils” such as ginkgoes.
A heron often stands motionless in the middle of a pond; it’s real. The carnivorous plant bog, once home to insect-eating plants, is being replanted.
In the tropical zone is a “bloody hand” (a.k.a. “monkey hand”) tree; a focus of the ficus grove is a potentially massive banyan.
You’ll find a parking meter-like device in the small rain-forest section, and that’s because rain forest land is getting smaller. Statistics displayed on the device encourage donations to the San Francisco-based Center for Ecosystem Survival: A nickel saves 18 square feet of tropical forest, a quarter saves 90 square feet. Every 2 1/2 acres--$121 if you brought lots of quarters--of South American protected rain forest safeguards 1/1000th of a jaguar, 1/25th of an anteater, 20 frogs, 200 orchids and 10,000 mushrooms.
Many trees in Thorn Forest really have thorns--some 7 inches long! The dry-palm grove (as opposed to the moist-palm grove in the tropical zone) includes an amazing variety of specimens, among them the Chinese windmill palm and Chilean wine palm.
Among cultivated collections are a rare-fruit grove, dwarf orchard and rose garden. An arbor shaded by lavender-flowered wisteria vines is a popular site for weddings. An heirloom kitchen garden, featuring culinary and medicinal herbs, is underway adjacent to Heritage House.
Historic Heritage House stands near the center of the arboretum. The quaint house with the multicolored window panes was built in 1894 by George Crook Clark, Fullerton’s first physician, and now serves as a museum of turn-of-the-century county history. (The medicinal herb collection will be based on Clark’s notes.) A windmill, pump house and outhouse have been added. (Donation, $2.)
The arboretum’s weekend plant sales are held in a structure near the gift shop. Small marigold and toadflax plants were selling recently for 50 cents. Plants in 1-gallon pots typically run $4.50 to $5; a cuphea ‘David Verity’ characterized as “quite showy” has flowers said to resemble cigars (but last a lot longer).
The Gift and Garden Shop offers compost gloves ($8.70), seashell roses ($8) and indispensable resources including “Botanical Latin to English Definitions” ($7), “New Pronouncing Dictionary of Plant Names” ($5) and the handy Permaplaqued fold-up guide “Local Birds of Orange County” ($8).
DINNER 2
Summit House offers incredible vistas from its hillside perch atop Vista Park, which is landscaped with native flora. Also at the site is an oil derrick and, at the south end, the Panorama Nature Preserve, with its aromatic coastal sage; a sign on the perimeter warns of cliffs and rattlesnakes!
Stone lions flank the restaurant’s entrance; inside is a roaring fire. Chef Timothy Plum recently replaced John McLaughlin, who stayed for a year. Summit House remains a special-occasion destination, its cuisine continental with a California touch.
Gardening enthusiasts might appreciate escargots bourguignonne (snails in brandy Pernod garlic butter, $8.95) or the exotic California greens (with Stilton cheese, toasted pine nuts, dried cranberries and raspberry hazelnut vinaigrette, $4.95). Plum values herbs: Salmon Wellington in puff pastry comes with dill mousseline ($17.95), herb-rubbed rack of Colorado lamb ($26.95) with spicy citrus essence, marigold and mint.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
1) Fullerton Arboretum
Associated Road and Yorba Linda Boulevard, (714) 278-3579.
8 a.m.-4:45 p.m. daily. Gift shop and plant sales 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Heritage House tours 2-4 p.m. Sunday.
2) Summit House
2000 E. Bastanchury Road in Vista Park, (714) 671-4111.
11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; 5-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; and 5-9 p.m. Sunday.
Parking: There is ample free parking in lots at each location. (There is also valet parking at Summit House.)
Buses: OCTA Bus No. 49 (Brea-Santa Ana) runs mostly along State College Boulevard in Fullerton but also services Fullerton Arboretum. Bus No. 49A (Brea-Santa Ana; no service weekends or holidays) runs mostly along State College Boulevard with a stop at Bastanchury Road.
