The Ruth Bancroft Garden: Walnut Creek, Calif.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden: Walnut Creek, Calif.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden was the first in the United States to be preserved by the Garden Conservancy at its inception in 1989. It is a “dry” garden with a vast collection of cactus in fantastic colors and shapes. The Ruth BancroftRuth Bancroft ‘s garden has hundreds of varieties of succulents from dry areas from around the world.

In 1989, then age 81, Bancroft donated her garden to the conservancy, but she has since continued to live at her home.