Memories Listings

"One evening on an adventure to tour the Storer Garden to get plant ideas, we saw next to the garden a camel being led! We did a double take—the camel being eight feet tall—and it really was a camel. Only in Davis would you see a camel in the Arboretum," said Nancy Foster, Arboretum Volunteer.

My first encounter with the Arboretum was April 2009. I had won a free flight to Davis and I was determined to go and visit this famous arboretum. I visited and fell in love with it. It’s because of the Arboretum that I decided to attend this university. So the Arboretum basically shaped my future!  I LOVE the Arboretum.

My interest in acacias really started about 1960 when I was studying the formation and metabolism of cyanogenic compounds—compounds that release hydrogen cyanide when a plant’s cellular structure is disrupted, e.g. when eaten by animals. When I learned that acacias are cyanogenic, I approached Roman Gankin, the Arboretum superintendent, and asked him to consider increasing the acacia collection. Roman was very accommodating.

I have observed Donna Billick's community work for many years and wished I could participate so that I could see how she coordinates many people to produce such marvelous cooperative pieces. Being invited to participate in the Art/Science Fusion project as an Arboretum volunteer was a perfect opportunity.

My husband and I got married at Putah Creek Lodge in the Arboretum on August 8, 1987. The morning ceremony took place on a gorgeous summer day, under the trees at the west end of the lawn; everything was serenely perfect. Even the ducks waddling around in front of the wedding party were charming.

I graduated in 1961.  When I started in 1957, UC Davis had about 2,200 students, fewer than my current high school had at it's prime.  I believe I entered the second year that the College of Letters and Science was in existence.  Prior to that, Davis was all agriculture engineering and home ec.  When I graduated in 1961, Davis had grown to about 5,000.

In June of 2009, we were married at the Putah Creek Lodge in the Arboretum. We had the ceremony under the large oak tree in the meadow behind the Lodge and the reception on the patio of the Lodge. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day and place. The grass was green, the trees were full, and all the flowers were blooming. It was beautiful. We both grew up here and have spent much time in the Arboretum and getting married there seemed like the perfect way to celebrate the Arboretum and our love. Thank you for letting us enjoy it!

I love running and walking through the Arboretum. Whenever I want to really talk to a friend I go to the Arboretum to talk. I love looking at all the different gardens and rolling in the soft grass. The Arboretum is such a peaceful place to me. It is so important to have a whimsical place to breathe and de-stress in the high-speed college environment.

In the mid-1850s my maternal great-great-grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. Isaac Denton Stockton, drove their wagon train through what is now the south side of the UC Davis Arboretum on their way from “back East” to their new home in Two Rock, Marin County. Their group included some covered wagons, of course, a herd of milk cattle, yoke oxen, horses, other pioneers, and the elder half of their 19 children.

Years ago, I was helping the son of a neighbor get rid of her extensive potted cactus collection. Marilynn Vilas and I borrowed Nancy Crosby’s pickup so we could take the plants over to the Arboretum nursery. We had to use a dolly to move one large opuntia plant. We couldn’t get the tailgate closed, but we thought the weight of the plant and dolly would keep everything in place.

My comments about the Arboretum are more historical than current.  When I entered UC Davis as a freshman in 1939, Putah Creek was lined with cottonwood trees where it crossed the campus.  There was discussion about developing an Arboretum and I believe a few plants had been set out near the A Street bridge.

Angelica Sauceda, Winnie Lau, Kylie Crisostomo-Rickman, Deana Cai, Kimberly Au, Elise Chu, and Mei Chau

After learning how to measure using a Transect tape and properly map plants at North Coast, me and my team took a group photo.

Winnie, Kylie, Deana, Elise, Angelica, Mei, and Kim

Starting from left to right, this is the LxL Plant Records & Mapping team from the Joint Training Day in the beginning of Fall Quarter. This was our first time truly getting to know each other.

This photo was taken in the Arboretum Oak Grove. The people in the photo are my dad Yaohe (left), my sister Vivien (middle), and me (right). My dad came visit me and my sister during Christmas break and I missed him so much!