The Garden Conservancy is a nationalnonprofit organization dedicated to preserv-ing exceptional American gardens. For moreinformation or to become a member, phonethe San Francisco office, (415) 441-4300,or national headquarters, (845) 265-2029,or visit www.gardenconservancy.org.

The Golden Gate NationalParks Conservancy is the nonprofitmembership organization created topreserve the Golden Gate National Parks,enhance the experience of park visitors,and build a community dedicated to con-serving the parks for the future. To becomea member, phone (415)4R-PARKS or visitwww.parksconservancy.org.

The National Park Service was createdin 1916 to preserve America's natural, cul-tural, and scenic treasures and to provide fortheir enjoyment for future generations. TheGolden Gate National Parks protects morethan 75,000 acres in Marin, San Francisco,and San Mateo counties. For informationabout the Golden Gate National Parks,phone (415) 561-4700 or visitwww.nps.gov/goga.

THE GARDENS OF ALCATRAZ

For more than a century, the residents of Alcatrazcreated gardens to lift their spirits and soften theharshness of their environment. Families, staff, andprisoners gradually built a landscape of floweringterraces, rose gardens, greenhouses, and lawns.When the prison closed in 1963, this manicuredlandscape became overgrown and wild. A richvariety of ornamental plants, over 230 species,remained as evidence of the island’s garden history.

In 2003, the Garden Conservancy, the Golden GateNational Parks Conservancy, and the National ParkService began a joint effort to preserve andrestore the historic gardens. Volunteer crews nowwork with Garden Conservancy staff year-round toplant and maintain the gardens.

GARDEN SURVIVORS

Alcatraz gardeners needed tough plants thatcould survive with little water or care. In the 1930s,the warden’s secretary, Fred Reichel, asked theCalifornia Horticultural Society and pioneeringwestern plant breeders for seedlings that mightdo well on the island. Many of the species thathe imported came from the world’s otherMediterranean climates, and flourished through40 years of neglect after the prison closed.

Today, visitors to Alcatraz find a landscape alivewith fragrant old roses, fig trees, bulbs, and colorfulsucculents—historic examples of sustainable plant-ing. Where historic plantings were lost, visitorsnow find new plants with low maintenance andwater needs more appropriate to today’s conditions.

Citadel Garden 1869

EADW

EARD

MUYBRIDG

E/BANCRO

FTLIBRARY “I kept no records of my failures, for I

had many—the main thing was to assuresome success by trying many things andholding on to the plants which had learnedthat life is worth holding on to even at itsbitterest.”

Fred Reichel, Warden’s Secretary, 1934–1941

T H E G A R D E N SO F A L C AT R A Z

Agapanthus orientalisSouth Africa

Globe artichokeMediterranean Basin

Pelargonium ’Brilliant‘South Africa

Echium candicansNorth Africa

Fuchsia ’Rose of Castile‘South America

Rosa ’Russelliana‘Europe

Lathyrus latifoliusEurope

Drosanthemum floribundumSouth Africa

Tropaeolum majusSouth America

Aeonium arboreumNorth Africa

Centranthus ruberMediterranean Basin

Bearded IrisEurope

Acanthus mollisMediterranean Basin

Zantedeschia aethiopicaSouth Africa

For more information or to volunteer, visitwww.alcatrazgardens.org.

The garden restoration project is supportedthrough grants and individual donations; thankyou for your support.

Cover photo by Roy Eisenhardt. Plant photos byRoy Eisenhardt, Shelagh Fritz, Elke Olsen, andElizabeth Byers.

MARIANBEARD

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Parade Ground

DockCellhouse

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SAN FRANCISCOBAY

WaterTower

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“Thehillside provideda refuge fromdisturbances of theprison, the work a release,and it became an obsession.This one thing I would do well.”

Elliott Michener, AZ #578

Recreation

Yard Main Road

West Road

JOSEPH

H.SIMPSON,1940s

“The visitor who comes here expects to find abarren rock, but as he strolls over it he issurprised to find roses in bloom, sweet peas,lilies, and a large variety of other flowers in alltheir beauty and fragrance...In this way barrenwastes are converted into garden spots, andugliness is transformed into beauty.”

Letter published in The Rock, Alcatraz newsletter, 1918

West Lawn and TerracesThe flat area below the west faceof the cellhouse was once the westlawn. Rock walls terrace the slopeson either side.West Road once ran downthrough a large lawn look-ing out to the city. Thisarea was irrigated by waterreclaimed from the cell-house showers, a systemdevised by the army. On the bay side, the lawn has beenovergrown by a thicket of fig and other garden plants thatnow protect nesting waterbirds. The terraces on this sideof the island were mostly built by inmate gardeners inthe 1940s.

Prisoner GardensAt the end of West Road, below the recreation yard, are the only gardensthat most prisoners could see.Inmates walked down this fenced and heavily guarded hill-side on their way to work in the prison industries build-ings. In the 1940s, inmate Elliott Michener used salvagedmaterials to build garden terraces, a greenhouse, and even abird bath. With garbage scraps to amend the soil and seedpackets from the staff, Michener and his successors createdgardens for the eyes of their fellow prisoners, and for theirown satisfaction.

Main Road LandscapeThe switchback road to the summit was blasted out ofrock in the 1850s during construction of the island’s firstfortifications. By the late 1800s, the road led past smallgardens of the officers’ homes to a large Victorian-stylegarden at the citadel. The army first lined the road withsurplus cannonballs, later using flowerbeds and rows ofpots to beautify the approach to the prison.

Rose TerraceIn front of the water tank, look over thewall to the former site of the rose gardenand greenhouse.When the Bureau of Prisonsarrived in 1933, Fred Reichel,the new warden’s secretary, wasso impressed by the army gar-dens that he began to maintainthem himself. He raised newplants in the old greenhouseand lobbied for, and trained,inmate gardeners. He also cared for the garden’s 50 roses,leaving cut flowers on the dock every Sunday for islandfamilies.

Officers’ RowOn the road in front of the cell-house, look over the planter tosee the restored Officers’ Rowgardens.In 1881, the army builtthree large homes herefor the commandant andhis officers. A visiting

lieutenant reported in 1895, “Near the citadel and officers’quarters, in little garden spots artificially made by bringingearth from the mainland, were blooming in profusionpoppies, geraniums, heliotropes, fuchsias and calla lilies.”When the Bureau of Prisons demolished two of thehouses in 1941, their foundations were converted toflower gardens tended by families and inmates. GardenConservancy gardeners and volunteers began replantingthe flower gardens in 2006.

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1859 ARMY FORT AND PRISON 1934 FEDERAL PRISON 1972 NATIONAL PARK

1869 Citadel Garden 1881 Officers’ Row Houses 1912 Cellhouse 1920s Rose Terrace 1930 West Lawn 1941 Officers’ Row Foundation Gardens 1945 Prisoner Gardens 2003 Alcatraz Gardens Project

1963 PRISON CLOSED

Warden’s HouseAt the top of the main road are theruins of the warden’s house, whichincluded a small greenhouse built forWarden Swope’s wife Edna.Inmate Elliott Michener saidhe gained “a lasting interestin creativity” from eight yearsof building gardens on thewest side. Near the end of his sentence he was promoted tothe warden’s house, and after parole he wrote to the warden,“For the first time I’m learning how much better one can doliving honestly than by, say, counterfeiting! We have cars andfat bank accounts...And we have a favor to ask: will you sendus a bush of our old ‘Gardenia’ rose?”

Cellhouse SlopeBelow the lighthouse and Eagle Plaza,look for lavender iceplant on the slopesalong West Road.Iceplant, called “Persian carpet”by island residents, oncecovered many of the island’ssteep slopes. The army plantedthe brilliant lavender carpet tocontrol erosion as well as toimprove views of “the Rock”from San Francisco.

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JOSEPH

H.SIMPSON,1940s

WILLIAMLONG,JR.,ca.1960

FRED

STRALEY,1961

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JOSEPH

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