Reprinted with permission from Montecito Magazine

With its gentle Mediterranean climate, Montecito has long been a desirable location for nursery men and gifted horticulturists. Its transformation into a botanist's Eden began in the last quarter of the century, reaching its height in the early decades of this century with the influx of wealthy easterners who came to escape the rigors of east coast winters. They built grand, elegant homes and surrounded them with a profusion of fragrance and color. In the process of developing their lush gardens, they created a constant demand for talented landscapers and nurserymen. This demand aside, dedicated horticulturists worldwide had discovered that Montecito's ideal climate and gem-like setting made it the perfect location for practicing the art of plant culture and landscape design.

According to historian David Myrick in Montecito and Santa Barbara Volume I, Dana B. Clark was one of the first to establish a nursery here. Clark operated his nursery for seven years on 30 acres he purchased in 1870. An advertisement in L. L. Paulson's Directory of Southern California for 1875 lists Clark's business as "D. B. Clark's Temperate Climate Nurseries in the Montecito - Four miles east of town." The location of his nursery is now a part of Manning Park, where a few olive trees, thought to have been planted by Clark, still thrive.

A story in the February, 1872, Santa Barbara Press reported that Mr. Clark's nursery had "an astonishing display of yearling plants, including several hundred Assyrian date palms in a healthy condition, a large lot of white maple, osage orange, white ash, black walnut, persimmon, pineapple, tea plants and choice orange trees." In March of 1873 an item in the same paper mentioned that "Colonel Hollister is beautifying his ranch with the Assyrian Date Palm. The trees were grown by Mr. D. B. Clark of Montecito, who deserves the thanks of the community for introducing this most ornamental tree." Besides being noted for the exotic trees and plants he imported, Clark supplied orange, almond and walnut trees to local growers.

Montecito's reputation as a "Garden of Eden" continued to grow. Report after report, such as this one in an October 1887 issue of the San Francisco Journal of Commerce, waxed eloquent as to Montecito's charms: "As for the climate of Montecito the one word 'perfect' properly describes it... Heat and cold are alike unknown and the variations of temperature throughout the year are scarcely noticeable. Practically speaking there are no seasons. Flowers bloom continually and the valley in December as well as in June, is a veritable garden of beauty."

Years later, in Southern California Gardens (1961) Victoria Padilla quoted a writer of the 1890s who penned, 'The country is new and many of the conditions of life may be primitive and rude, but it is impossible that any region shall not be beautiful, clothed with such a profusion of bloom and color.'

Padilla's own description beautifully sums up Montecito and its gardens of that era: "A little valley with its vine-clad cottages and gardens in a setting highly reminiscent of Italy, Montecito contained a score or more of the loveliest estates in the country. Beautiful in its native growths of oaks and sycamores, this spot became under the hand of man a veritable garden of paradise. Many of the gardens contained collections that were not only rare for that day, but would indeed be unusual for the present. From a horticultural point of view the most engaging place belonged to Ralph Kinton Stevens, who eventually turned his home grounds into a nursery of rare plants."

Between 1888 and 1893, Montecito farmland was mainly planted in lemons, and mostly with trees supplied by the prolific nursery of R. Kinton Stevens. A horticulturist from England, Stevens acquired Montecito acreage in 1882, including the land where Lotusland is located today.

Stevens' nursery went well beyond citrus plantings, however. According to Padilla, Stevens was the first California nurseryman with a catalogue devoted solely to tropical and subtropical plants. His 1893 catalogue listed an incredible array of palms, six species of bananas, four types of pineapple, and even the Egyptian lotus.

For relaxation the gregarious and multi-talented Stevens created clay figurines, dabbled in taxidermy and entertained friends by singing and playing the banjo. Noted as a frequent exhibitor at agricultural fairs, he also hosted meetings of the Santa Barbara Horticultural Society at his ranch.

Stevens' sudden death at the age of 50 put an end to his thriving nursery operation. But his oldest son, Ralph Tallant Stevens, studied gardening design in Europe and later followed in his father's Montecito footsteps. In 1923 he worked closely with architect George Washington Smith and horticulturist Peter Riedel to design the extensive water systems, outdoor "rooms" and plantings at Casa Del Herrero.

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