Green Thumb Times – September 2025 Greetings readers—what an exciting month we’ve had! The gardens are bursting with bounty right now: the corn has grown over seven feet tall, the Burbank Stringless green beans are producing almost daily (we’ve even managed to keep a few…though many mysteriously vanish overnight), and the apples and Burbank plums […]
Green Thumb News: September 2025 Read More »
Summer at Burbank GardensIt’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through summer! As I write this in mid-July, I’m reflecting on everything the season has brought so far—our stunning Shasta Daisies in full bloom, the pruning of the walnut trees, planting our very first pumpkin patch, harvesting the first of Luther’s Stringless green beans, and
Green Thumb Times: August 2025 Read More »
Another beautiful and action-packed month is coming to an end, and we’re already looking ahead to a vibrant summer full of blooms and a fresh new display in the demonstration beds. Get ready for sunflowers, and a few Burbank Exclusives making their debut this season: Rainbow Corn, stringless green beans, Burbank Slicer tomatoes, and lemon
Green Thumb Times: June 2025 Read More »
Discover What’s Growing in Our Garden By Chris Butler, Garden Coordinator Another beautiful and action-packed month is coming to an end, and we’re already looking ahead to a vibrant summer full of blooms and a fresh new display in the demonstration beds. Get ready for sunflowers, and a few Burbank Exclusives making their debut this
Green Thumbs Times: May 2025 Read More »
It is with very mixed emotions that we must announce the removal of the Burbank Chestnut which has graced us with its elegance, shade, and carbon storage since 1931 on the south side of the portico at the Santa Rosa Avenue entrance. This tree is badly infected with Oak Root Fungus (Armillaria mellea) and must
A Fond Farewell to the Burbank Chestnut Read More »
This time last year we created a new program – Garden Bed Sponsorships – and asked local businesses and individuals if they’d like to sponsor a specific garden bed for the year. We are very grateful to the following businesses and neighbors who took us up on the offer. With their help, we have: completed
Garden Bed Sponsorships 2018 Read More »
Meandering around the Gardens in late March and Early April results in finding hidden treasures if you know how to look for them. This is the time when some of the more intriguing experiments on the property show their colors. If you wander by the demonstration bed with the story about the 20,000 prune trees
Multi-Grafted Mania Read More »
Greetings all! I’m sure most of you are familiar with the story of the 20,000 prune trees Mr. Burbank delivered to Warren Dutton in 1881, earning Burbank the nickname of “The Plant Wizard.” To accomplish this task, Mr. Burbank used a technique known as June Budding, where individual buds of one plant are spliced onto
’Tis the Season to Graft Your Fruit Trees! Read More »
Luther Burbank was an avid grafter. He grafted everything from fruit and nut trees to tomatoes and potatoes. One of the advantages to grafting is to reduce the time until a tree fruits by 2-7 years!!! In most cases, new grafts will fruit in less than two seasons, and in some exceptional cases, fruit will
Multi-Grafted Apple Tree Read More »
