Project Details Page

synopsis

Susanna Bixby Bryant (1880-1946) started a native botanic garden in 1927 at her Rancho Santa Ana in Orange County, exploring the value of California native plants and wildflowers. Almost two years later she hired the Olmsted Brothers, well-established in the Southern California area at the time, to help design the 200-acre property. A plan from 1930 (08239-28) shows proposed plantings,

Susanna Bixby Bryant (1880-1946) started a native botanic garden in 1927 at her Rancho Santa Ana in Orange County, exploring the value of California native plants and wildflowers. Almost two years later she hired the Olmsted Brothers, well-established in the Southern California area at the time, to help design the 200-acre property. A plan from 1930 (08239-28) shows proposed plantings, pools, and pathways, ultimately completed. After she died the collection was relocated to Claremont College and is now called California Botanic Garden. The original Orange County landscape was developed into residential homes in the late 1900s. Olmsted Brothers records are held at Olmsted Archives at ONHS and their correspondence and plans detail the garden layout. The two Olmsted Archives finding aids include two folders in the Western Office Corresspondence collection, dating from 1927-1952, as well as a Collection of reports and publications related to the job, dating from 1931-1950.

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