The Abies alba at UC Davis - one of the only firs there btw, and certainly the biggest unless I missed one. (I hurried through the Cal natives section, so it's possible...I did see one native fir, but it was about 4' tall and obviously recently planted.)

Also, I was happy to see their climate was mild enough for a small x Chiranthofremontia. As well as in-ground Anigozanthos:

I don't see these used for landscaping though - except once, IIRC, in Sonoma County. In every town I visited, I did try to take some time to see how residential gardens are planted. Here's a somewhat representative scene in Ft. Bragg: huge 5' South African Iridaceae and California Flannel Bush in the background.

Oh heck...here are the tops of some UC Davis 25' Callistemon trees!

BTW - I did see the San Francisco Botanic Garden on my last visit 5 years ago. It's really a toss up, but when it comes to the must see garden, I lean toward Berkeley. I didn't have time on this trip to see SFBG a second time. Something about the sense of place of the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden is simply amazing. Only Villa Taranto is in the same league.

Google images seems to have suddenly been possessed by some kind of SEO demons, so if you look for pictures of UC Botanical Gardens you get a lot of crap commercial images. If you aren't familiar with it and need an overview, here's a good blog post: http://thethriftytravelerca.blogspot.com/2015/02/uc-botanical-garden-at-berkeley.html

Thanks Dave-for reminding me of how ignorant I am! Place this upper midwest horticulturist in that environment and it would essentially consist of me starting over.

From my participation in ENTS-Eastern Native Tree Society-and their excellent bulletin board, I have become aware that if you want to see truly impressive redwood groves, you must go north. Evidently, even where the southern groves are healthy, they lack the exuberance, heavy, intact ground layer (sword ferns, etc.), let alone record-breaking heights of the northern groves. So I read, at any rate, and that board is the standard-bearer for tree measurement expertise.

Thanks, Dave. I was impressed by the Monterrey cypresses and the palms in Golden Gate Park in San Fran.

Well the extra trappings are nice (ferns, etc.) but I just care about the trees looking healthy in a garden setting. In Sonoma County and of course Berkeley and Oakland, they do. Even though I don't think the interior valleys of Sonoma County are their native range, they are just cool and humid enough even in summer. For the the most part in the warmer central Valley and central Contra Costa County, they do not look very good. You would see whole rows along a boulevard, 500-1000' long, all with brown specks throughout the foliage. Why not just plant Sequoiadendron? The few I saw in those areas looked better. Not to mention the beautiful western oaks they could plant, too. UC Davis has a special redwood grove they allocate extra water too, obviously, and those look OK for the most part.

I hoped someone from the area would give their two cents...

Well, I did mention those ground layer plants but that was not the main point. The main point was that, among people in the know, it is northern Cali that far and away supports the best groves of redwoods. And this is-I am told-not a subtle difference, but one which is readily apparent. It does have to do with the trees themselves.

How could I forget - one last picture. The original Davidia involucrata 'Sonoma'. Now a widely grown cultivar.

Somehow I missed this! I LOVE that Dacrydium at MCBG - as you note there are others around and about but nothing like that one. Also a very nice Acer griseum nearby. They know that the Rhododendron collection has issues and they are working with a rep from the Rhododendron Society (or similar outfit) to properly label and professionalize the collection. The microclimate there allows them to grow the tropical rhodies so they are also adding to the collection selectively. I have a soft spot in my heart for SFBG, partly because they are so great to work with (they are an ACS Reference Garden and I am the liaison) and I love Don Mahoney, who is now Curator Emeritus but can't seem to stay away from the place. Paul Licht, who is just stepping down from head of Berkeley's Bot Garden is a lily guy and told me flat out that the doesn't like conifers (which to me is an odd thing for a botanical garden curator to say) but otherwise he's an amazing guy from what I can tell. You didn't visit Western Hills I guess? The new owners have done wonders. I also like the Native Plant Garden at Tilden Park. I feel blessed to have so many wonderful gardens nearby, and they are all so different. Nice to read your write up and it sounds like you had a great trip!

Here is my take on a visit to the rhododendron at MCBG a few Novembers past: Eats, Buds and Leaves: Rhododendron Deflowered

The white flowered shrub is Carpenteria. I've seen the dove tree at Sonoma Hort. and it is tiny - I have to wonder if it really is the original seedling as that is supposed to date from 1952 or earlier. Also something years ago - maybe a picture from their web site or a comment there - gave me the impression I was going to be greeted by a large, tetraploid-looking (hence the jumbo bracts) specimen instead of what they have now. Which as can be seen in your picture looks like a dwarfed orchard fruit tree.

Presumably grafted propagules on the market here, although maintaining the early flowering habit, seem to have too much horsepower to end up being still so small after so many years. One I planted on Camano Island at most several years ago is probably already above roof height. Another, unlabeled tree that really appeared to be the same selection, in a garden near Portland looked to be as tall as or taller than the supposed original. Of course, if the production nurseries that have picked this one up are in fact grafting onto seedlings of normal habit than those may be invigorating the scions, as often happens with grafted dwarf and slow-growing conifers.

When I was there Sonoma themselves had flats of planted or recently sprouted seeds from the tree there labeled something like "Sonoma dove tree seedlings". If many of those get planted around and they do not come out consistently true to type that should muddle things nicely. Same as with 'Bloodgood' maple and 'Royal Purple' smoke-bush.

But Embo - isn't precocious flowering sometimes associated with slow growth?

Sara, thanks for enjoying...I will look at your report now. And sorry for seeming to diss your friend.

Yes the clone being grown and sold under the name now is clearly a dwarf. Quite dwarf, if it was raised ca. 1952. But I'm not sure how your question pertains to anything I posted. When I first heard about the cultivar, saw the bract size comparison photo that was prepared and circulated it seems like all that was mentioned was the bigger bracts. Or that was the focus, to the extent that I thought I would be seeing a big tree when I went to the nursery. Again, as though the seedling was a tetraploid, with bigger everything.

If I missed someone already giving this suggestion for the white-flowering mystery plant in the first post, I apologize. The plant looks like it could be Carpenteria californica.