Mourning Cloak Ranch - LetsGoSeeIt.com

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Botanical Gardens

Mourning Cloak Ranch

and Botanical Gardens

NOTE: Sadly, it has been reported that Mourning Cloak Ranch is no longer in operation as a garden, but has been re-purposed for other uses. This page will remain on the website for historical/sentimental purposes.

The following information is from a brochure available at the gardens

Mourning Cloak Ranch and Botanical Gardens is located on the historic site of Williamsburg; a town predating Tehachapi. Its tree-shaded gardens roll gently over more than 20 acres of beautiful, blooming hills. The ranch was founded by Marian and Edward Sampson and is named for the Mourning Cloak, a remarkably attrative and hardy butterfly native to the area. Three decades of careful planting of over 2,200 different species from all over the world have transformed this naturally lovely California landscape into an international botanical wonderland.

Plants are identified by neat, unobtrusive markers that are easily read from the meandering paths that curve through the sun and shadow of the garden's landscape.

The gardens were established, not only for the love of plants, but, to encourage education and excellence in horticulture. Mourning Cloak Ranch hosts seminars, lectures and guided tours in order to stimulate interest and appreciation for the world's natural botanical beauty.

In addition to the breath-taking gardens there is a remarkable collection of carriages, a variety of horse drawn vehicles neatly displayed in a specially built barn. They are in like-new condition...a nostalgic reminder of time gone by. Tour groups may arrange for tasty gourmet lunches, elegantly prepared and served in the gardens.

Mourning Cloak Ranch and Botanical Gardens is open 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM May through October. Closed Sunday. For information, tours and special events call (661) 822-1661 or FAX at (661) 822-5062 or visit our website at www.mounringcloakranch.com.

The Main Garden

The main garden is to the left of the main entrance road. It has a wild variety of plants in a relatively compact area. It borders on a seasonal stream with cute bridges crossing it. A variety of mature oaks accent the garden.

Flower Garden

The central flower garden is adjacent to the old barn. There is a wide variety of flowers to see, as well as a gazebo to sit in and enjoy the view.

Cactus Garden

The cactus garden remindes us that Tehachapi is surrounded by desert land.

Dawn Redwood

Metasequoia glyptostroboides
TAXODIACEAE
Dawn Redwood

This tree was known prior to 1944 only as a paleo-botanical
fossil and thus thought to be extinct. Living trees were
discovered in a remote area of central China that year and
positively identified at the Arnold Arboretum in 1945.
The tree had existed in a small location for thousands
of years, but modern botanists had considered it
extinct until this time.

This specimen was planted as a five gallon size in 1987

Waterfall and Pond

On the trail going up the hill, there is a beautiful pond with a small waterfall. In the pond are numerous Koi fish and water lilies. It is a great place to sit and "forget the whole world" for awhile, as the sign at the edge of the pond states.


	A real garden where one can enter in and forget the whole world cannot be made in a week or a month or a year. It must be planned for, and waited for, and loved into being. ~ Chinese Proverb ~

Giant Sequoia


	Sequoiadendron gigantea The Giant Sequoia In the forests of the world, one tree lives longer, one other tree has a greater diameter, three other species grow taller. But in volume of total wood the Giant Sequoia stands alone. The largest tree and the largest living thing on the face of the earth. This specimen was planted as a 1 gallon size in 1974

Mourning Cloak Ranch and Botanical Gardens is located on Old town Road in Tehachapi. See map.

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