Located in Ojai, directions private, and given out upon admission ticket reservations

This is one of the lesser known gardens in Southern California and well worth the extra little effort to visit it. You will have to make advanced reservations and directions will be given after that reservation has been made. However, there is an advantage. We visited this garden on a Wednesday in September and we were the only ones visiting and they still accommodated us. We essentially had the entire garden to ourselves with the gardeners and the person who works for Taft Gardens.

This 15 acre garden is divided into several sections: Aloe garden, Australian garden, studio and art garden, South African garden, and agave cactus garden. There is an additional 200 acre of Open Preserve. The areas have mostly drought tolerant plants as well as native plantings in Ojai. While there are sections within the garden, it is mostly a seamless intermingling of native plants and trees blending from one section to another.

In the Australian section, there are many lush bushes of protea, pea, myrtle leptospernum and banksia grevillia. We were past the blooming period when we visited but we managed to find a few remaining buds. Most of the bushes showed signs of spent flowers which meant that it must have been an impressive bloom!

Being next to an open space preserve means that the opportunity for animals to thrive and habituate in a safe area. We saw plentiful of wildlife including a family of deer, native grey squirrels, California quail, woodpeckers, and birds. In the quiet, restful, and bountiful gardens, the animals go about their daily lives.

The agave cactus garden boasts structurally dramatic plants in an already scenic garden.

Depending on when you visit the garden and whether or not they have events or visiting artists, the studio garden and art studios may be closed. As they did not have any events or visiting artists, we were able to explore the area. There is a sunken zen meditation garden.

And various Buddhist garden representations from the Thai, Chinese, to Japanese. Each of these art studio areas was beautifully ornate. As with everything about this garden, everything integrates with each other seamlessly and does not feel out of place.

Taft Gardens hosts a residency for artists that are local to the Ventura and Santa Barbara communities. Occasionally they may have art openings and may exhibit and sell some of their works or artists may just enjoy the gardens and help inspire their creativity.

The Garden representative reports that some of the best times to visit the garden is during the spring when they have native annual flowers sprouting, proteas are blooming, and during the blooming of the aloes in late winter to spring. While we may have visited the garden during an off time, it was still absolutely beautiful with everything being lush from the recent rains caused by Tropical Storm Hilary.

Getting reservations to visit Taft Garden and Nature Preserve was easy through its website. There is only one time slot for 9am from Tuesdays through Saturdays due it getting over 100 degrees by mid-morning during the summer months.

The drive to the gardens is not difficult but there are some low areas where you will need to drive a creek. The small creek crossing was not deep when we went, but you would need to be aware if it has recently rained and if you think your car cannot handle this.

To make your on-line reservation and purchase your admission ticket, visit their website: Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve