California Botanic Garden — Attraction in Claremont

I don’t live in California, and I’ve never been to the California Botanic Garden...my feedback is in regards to their nonprofit management and lack of ethics.

My great grand uncle, formerly a professor and founding member of Stanford's neuroscience department, and his wife were honored by another family member's donation for a small memorial plaque and garden bench.

Recently, CBG's Advancement Office"(aka Fundraising and Development) reached out to a random academic in China who had written about my great grand uncle's academic achievements for funding to repair the bench. This Chinese academic then shared the CBG contact information with me. They first stated they wanted funds for repairs to the bench. Then, the Director of Development emailed me requesting $2500 for a 5 year renewal... what kind of scam is this? Her response was "We are a botanic garden, not a memorial park."

This is not only disrespectful to the three people who are DEAD, but also somewhat shady and unethical non-profit management practice.

*Updated to add that they kindly mailed my grand uncle and...

Idyllic botanical garden featuring native California plants. They’re open for timed ticket holders (8am-1pm or 3pm-8pm) and you can reserve the date and times it you want on their website. It’s $10 for adults and $6 for students with IDs. They offer annual memberships as well. You give your name at the ticket counter and then you get your allotted time slot to explore the grounds. Parking is free and there’s a lot.

The area is very peaceful and there’s plenty of paved paths for strollers and wheelchairs. There’s only one bathroom open right now and you need to bring your own water bottles in. There’s a ton of benches for you to sit and rest; most of the paths are super flat and even. There’s some shade but there are exposed areas so wear sunblock and bring a hat/sunglasses.

It’s a good spot to bring the family or go on a date or even take some time for yourself to walk around in meditative silence. It’s nice to see that there’s another botanical garden off the beaten path for people in the...

This is a very nice botanic garden that is not too large and easily navigated through, especially with the map they give you. Last time I visited was about a year before the pandemic and it seemed run down and neglected in areas. I was happy to see that it was in much better shape this trip. It has a lot of variety of plants divided into zones. I love all the new plant identifier signs that they have added and hope they will be able to add even more. It is a very pleasant place to visit for a nice walk and some quiet reflective time. There are also several new benches added throughout that you can just sit and enjoy the garden that have been donated. They sell California native plants at certain times of the year, although it was not open this trip. The gift shop is also closed because of the pandemic. It is inexpensive to enter. I think only $8 regular. We went with our gardening class so paid the student and senior rate of only $6. A membership is only $50 and they are part of the reciprocal...