Californian ‘Bulbs , Grolvn by Carl Purdy 
3 
Introduction 
N 1879, when I was but eighteen years of age, I began collecting the wild 
bulbs, plants and seeds of California for an eastern firm,—the first in 
America to make a specialty of hardy American plants, as well as of hardy 
perennials. I was then just setting out in life as a school-teacher, and, 
during the next nine years, bulb-collection filled my vacations and other 
unoccupied hours ; but, by 1888, it had grown to where I could make it a life work. 
Each year my knowledge of plants had become greater, my collecting trips longer, 
my connections wider; and my garden experience has grown in the same ratio. After 
several sites for bulb-growing had been tried, I discovered the peculiar fitness of a little 
valley high in the Coast Range which separates Mendocino from Lake county. 
Lyons Valley, as it is called, is at an elevation of very nearly 3,000 feet above the 
sea, while the town of Ukiah, nine miles away, is but 600. It is perfectly fitted for many 
kinds of bulbs, but no more so than “ The Terraces,” my present home, which is but 
a mile away, and at present my gardens are at both places. 
At “ The Terraces,” a favorable climate, an abundance of water, and a wonderfully 
wide variety of soils and exposures combine to make an ideal garden spot, while from 
the scenic standpoint, it is probably the most unique garden in the world. While I 
use terraces in my hillside gardening, “ The Terraces ” themselves are natural. Large 
springs feed a stream which flows down a little vale in the face of a high mountain range. 
Perhaps a quarter of a mile from their source they tumble over a limestone bluff to 
another level, then again and again to other terraces until four have been passed. 
The bluffs are from 50 to 70 feet each in height, and on their face is a succession 
of cascades and waterfalls. The gardens occupy all of the valley, the slopes and the 
successive terraces, while every nook and corner is utilized for the naturalization of 
colonies of ferns, lilies or other plants. 
Visitors are welcomed, and can reach the place by good wagon roads from Ukiah, 
eight miles away. As there are several miles of mountain grades, safe horses should 
be secured and a vehicle with a brake. 
The road first crosses the beautiful Ukiah valley, and passes the Insane Asylum. 
Five miles out it enters Mill Creek Canon, a gorge as pretty as California contains. 
The last two miles are up the grades, and about two hours and a half are required to 
make the out trip, while half as long is sufficient for the return. 
The season opens with April, and the first great bloom is of my daffodils. Of 
these I have about eighty sorts. By the fifteenth of April early tulips are at their best, 
and are followed later by my magnificent collection of late and Darwin tulips. These 
make the finest show of the year, and are usually at their best the last week in the month. 
During this time there has been a succession of dainty, small flowers, such as the dog’s- 
tooth violets and star tulips. 
May brings irises, peonies and Mariposa tulips, but no lilies; by the last week in 
June these are in their glory and are a great sight. 
After July, the bulbs die down and I have only scenery to show my visitors. Of course 
I have many pretty flowers, too, but nothing that I make a specialty of. 
Ukiah is reached by rail, via the Northwestern Pacific, which starts at the Ferry 
depot at San Francisco. Two trains a day arrive in Ukiah. I he first leaves San Fran¬ 
cisco at 7.40 a. M., arriving at Ukiah at 12.10 p. M. The second leaves San Francisco 
at 3.15 P. M., and arrives at Ukiah at 8.10 p. M. From Ukiah, the trains are 6.25 A.M. 
and 3.05 p. M. As there is hardly time for a visitor to make the round trip to “The Ter¬ 
races” after the arrival of the train at 12.30, the better way is to come to Ukiah on the 
