Best Botanical Gardens In Sacramento Near Me

4worldlovers: Park Hours: Opens at Sunrise - Closes at Sunset (Weather permitting - Parking lot floods during winter and spring months leading to the closure of the area to vehicles. You can also access the Jensen Botanical Garden from the Sutter-Jensen Park parking lot.)

Please stay on pathways, no amplified music, no bikes or sports activities allowed. A portable restroom is available.

For tree and plant identification please view our Plants and Trees document below.

The 3 1/2 Acre garden was founded in 1958 by Charles C. Jensen. After his retirement as a produce buyer. Charles and his wife Marguerite Jensen moved from their home in Oakland to their new property in Carmichael. They made regular trips to Oakland to bring back truckloads of plants and trees. The property already had Oaks, Coastal Redwoods and blackberry brambles. He gradually cleared the land and began planting the many Magnolias, Azaleas, Dogwoods and Japanese Maples which were among the first plants brought from Oakland.

Hybridizing, grafting and acquiring new varieties of plants, he built a garden that caught the eye of many passersby. He especially enjoyed showing visitors around his garden and opened it to parties and weddings. After his death, a group of citizens formed the Charles C. Jensen Botanical Garden, Inc Committee to preserve the garden. Their fundraising efforts were successful and the garden became the property of the Carmichael Recreation and Park District in 1976.

Today, the District continues to work the garden in cooperation with the endless talent of the Friends of Jensen Botanical Garden. Since 2004, this volunteer group has transformed the garden into the beautiful paradise that it is today. One of the jewels of Carmichael, it has many varieties of Magnolias and Dogwoods, Japanese Maples and thousands of Tulips. Springtime is amazing.

Jensen Botanical Garden features the Nature Path for the Blind for the visually impaired. We encourage you to stop by and experience the pathway. By feeling the different textures and experiencing the unique fragrances of the various plants the pathway appeals to the visually impaired and those with physical challenges. The project was inspired by a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Jacqueline Coffroth.

In order to keep the gardens beautiful, access and use of the garden for groups is limited and controlled. Wedding receptions and short special events with limited numbers can be rented and scheduled as space is available and when workdays are not taking place. One portable restroom is available and limited parking (Approximately 20 vehicles).

To check availability or reserve an event, please contact us at (916) 485-5322.

If you would like to be a volunteer please fill out the Volunteer Membership Application form and send to info@carmichaelpark.com.

4worldlovers:
Join us at 6pm on the second Thursday for a plant related talk given from members of the conservatory community.

FREE! All are welcome to attend. Snacks and drinks will be provided however space is going to be limited, so try and come early.


We're happy to welcome visitors during the weekdays. Sometimes it's a litttle wet with dripping water in the mornings so if you'd like to visit when it's tropical but not raining then we recommend afternoon visits. Please check our tours tab above to schedule a tour or review our tour calendar to avoid visiting during guided tours for classes or other organized groups. Self guided visits are free and there's also the outdoor areas to the west (succulent and desert plants) and to the east (assorted subtropical and temperate plants along with American pitcher plants and other Carnivorous plants).

Every year over four thousand students, from UC Davis, Northern California schools and community colleges, and abroad visit the Conservatory to learn and about plant-animal interractions and the adaptations that help plants adapt to deserts and rainforestes, nutrient poor soils, and how the plants interract with herbivores, pollinators and other insects.

Photos are posted on our Facebook page, see below, so you can see some of the progress of the "flowers" various stages including senescense (determined and programmed cellular deterioration).


In case you're wondering, drop in visits are free. See our maps page link above for directions and parking suggestions and the side bar for our public hours.


Want to see some pictures from previous years blooms of the Titan Arums here at UC Davis?

Click here to see plant pictures from in and around the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory!

We had two Titan blooms in 2009 about a week apart in Mid May

Almost a week after Ted bloomed, a new titan dubbed "Phyllis" bloomed for the very first time. Phyllis is the offspring (via vegetative propagule) of Tabatha, which died in 2004.

Amorphophallus titanum, or the titan arum, was discovered by the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in 1878 on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. A specimen was shipped to the Royal Botanical Gardens in England, where the plant was displayed and bloomed for the first time in cultivation in 1889. It may take 15 years for the titan arum to become large enough to bloom, and it is especially rare to see in cultivation. These floral giants have been coaxed into flower only about 100 times around the world, including 7 times here at the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory as of June 2011.

The frilly “petal” of the titan arum is a funnel-shaped leaf called a spathe. The spike that comes up from the center of the spathe is known as a spadix. This spadix produces several hundred tiny flowers, both male and female, way down near the narrow base where it joins the spathe. For the first several hours after the spathe opens up, the spadix puts out the strong scent of a dead animal that attracts flies and carrion beetles for pollination. This is the time when the female flowers are ready to receive pollen. The following day, the odor starts to fade as the female flowers become less receptive, and the male flowers begin to ripen with pollen. This difference in timing between the two types of flowers helps prevent self-pollination, and promotes cross pollination with other titan arums. Flowering of the plant generally occurs every other year, alternating with the production of a single gigantic leaf.