Bamboo and more at the Sacramento Zoo

When the kids were small, we would go on regular outings to the Sacramento Zoo; we even had a family membership at one time. Now that the kids are older, years go by between visits. However, this past Veterans Day weekend was so glorious that we decided to go.

The Sacramento Zoo doesn’t rank among the country’s top zoos but it’s a beautiful oasis on the edge of William Land Park, itself a peaceful island in the city (TripAdvisor ranks it as the #10 attraction in Sacramento.)

The fall color in Land Park is near its peak, and the short walk from our car to the zoo entrance was as close to autumn perfection as it gets around here.

Most visitors come for the animals but for me the main attraction at the Sacramento Zoo are the plantings—and especially the bamboos. They are everywhere, and they lend an air of the exotic to the animal exhibits and the public paths.

Aside from a few clumps of Bambusa multiplex, all bamboos are of the running kind. The zoo must do a lot of maintenance on the bamboos. It’s obvious the stands are thinned regularly; I saw no congestion and no runaway culms. The overall effect is light and airy, exactly as it should be.

I can’t say for sure how many species of bamboo there are the Sacramento Zoo, but I recognized some of them (see IDs below the photos). I wish somebody would volunteer to create a bamboo map for the zoo. I sure would appreciate it :-).

 

 

Phyllostachys aurea

Phyllostachys bambusoides

 

 

 

 

 

Phyllostachys nigra

 

  

 

Phyllostachys aurea at the red panda exhibit

Prayer flags amidst the bamboos at the red panda exhibit

Near the gift shop I saw several plantings of horsetail rush (Equisetum hyemale), and I overheard somebody referring to them as bamboo. They’re not even closely related to bamboos, but looking at them up close, it’s easy to see why people would think that.

But bamboos are only a small part of the plantings in the zoo. There are trees everywhere, and many of them are in their autumn glory right now.

 

Other trees, like valley oaks and redwoods, looked gorgeous even without fall foliage:

 

One of my favorite trees, Acacia baileyana, grows in the Australian section. No surprise there—it’s an Aussie native. Cootamundra wattle, as it is known down under, has feathery leaves, bluish-gray to silver, that are stunning up close. (A cultivar called Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ is sold in the nursery trade; its leaves emerge a distinct purple.)

Fan palms (Washingtonia sp., either robusta or filifera) are a ubiquitous sight in the park. I love photographing their trunks. On the left, the plant behind it is a yucca; on the right, a cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior).

 

I only saw one type of succulent during our visit, this duo of octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana), and that was just outside the zoo:

While most flowers were on the wane…

… a few were still going strong:

And finally, a few animal photos. I know this is a plant blog, but who doesn’t love pandas, giraffes, lions and flamingos?

Red panda

Red panda

Masai giraffe

Male lion

American flamingos

American flamingo

Sacramento doesn’t have a real botanical garden, but the Sacramento Zoo does a good job of stepping in with plants that look (and may be) exotic but clearly thrive in our Mediterranean climate.