Last Tuesday my wife and I went to Alcatraz Island, not to tour the remains of the cell house, but to see the gardens on the island and to learn about the Garden Conservancy's Alcatraz Historic Garden Project.
People began gardening on Alcatraz in the 1860's. Remember Alcatraz has been inhabited for over 150 years, first as a military fort and then as a military prison from 1909 to 1934 and a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963.
The development of the gardens on Alcatraz falls into two distinct phases: those tended by army families during its years as a military post and those maintained by federal prison inmates.
Alcatraz has an interesting history of horticulture and gardening ideas that span many different eras, from Victorian cottage gardens to environmentally sensitive attempts at erosion control. Who lived on the island influenced what was planted.
More than 140 types of plants have been recorded as having survived from the years when Alcatraz was a prison. This includes a mixture of California native, introductions from the Mediterranean varieties, and some historic roses.
Now Alcatraz is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a part of the National Park Service.
The Garden Conservancy is collaborating with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy on rehabilitating the gardens on Alcatraz.
While the goal of the Garden Conservancy is to save America's exceptional gardens, the present gardens at Alcatraz certainly would not be considered exceptional.
In the past, the parts of the island had what could be called exceptional gardens as documented by early photos.
We had a three-hour private tour of the gardens with Shelagh Fritz, the first full-time gardener on Alcatraz since 1963.
Starting in November of 2006, Fritz works for the Garden Conservancy as part of the Garden Conservancy's Alcatraz Historic Gardens Project.
While the Garden Conservancy is not trying to reproduce the gardens that once were on Alcatraz, with a master plan, the project hopes to rehabilitate many of the areas on the island.
The first phase, the main road landscape from the dock to the cellblock, has been finished. Fritz is currently working on the second phase, what is called officers' row, which was planted from last November to January, and the former rose garden and greenhouse.
The terraced gardens area once existed between homes on the east side of the island.
To be completed by 2010, the final phase is planting on the windward west side of the island that was at one time cutting garden for bouquets.
"All the plants for the second phase are chosen for historical reasons and are to get the look and feel of the time," said Fritz, meaning plants that were popular in the '40s and '50s on the island.
Fritz does have photos of what the terraced area once looked like.
A challenge for Fritz is the current gull-nesting going on now in the terraced garden. The birds use parts of what she has planted to make nests.
Much of the work on the Garden Conservancy's rehabilitation project on Alcatraz is done by volunteers who come on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The Garden Conservancy project on Alcatraz is significant for several reasons.
Gardening on Alcatraz was an effort to make something beautiful out of a hostile environment.
It also reveals man's universal need to garden and the value of gardens as enrichments for people's lives, even those in less than ideal situations.