The Gardens of Alcatraz

Conceived of, as a means of rehabilitation for the prisoners, the gardens on Alcatraz were at their height in this season, and are a great counterweight to the grimness of the ruins of the buildings of the penitentary grounds.  The Warden's House, a stately separate house is a hollow shell.  The  gardens were part of the officers'homes in the 1850s when the island was occupied by three large homes for the commandant and his officers in 1895.  "Near the citadel and officer's quarters, in little garden spots artifcially made by bringing earth from the mainland, were blooming in profusion poppies, geraniums, heliotropes, fuchsias and calla lilies."   When the Bureau of Prisons demolished two of the houses in 1941, the foundations were converted into gardens.  Staff gardeners and volunteers began replanting the gardens in 2006.   They were absolutely beautiful and at their height on our visit April 17.   Cellhouse Slope is planted with ice plant or "persian garden" to prevent erosion as well as to improve views of "The Rock" from San Francisco.  The West Lawn is overgrown and provides thickets and cover for protection of nesting water birds.  The terraces were built by inmates in the 1940s Inmate Elliott Michener is mentioned as someone who made a green house, garden terraces and even a bird bath from salvage scraps.  They all worked in the Pirson industries building, which is where Ai Wei Wei's exhibition is housed.

These gardens are a counterweight to the grimness of the ruins of buildings and to the harshness of the rocky cliffs.  When the prison closed in 1963 the landscape became overgrown and wild.    Fred Reichel, the Warden's secretary wrote that "I kept no records of my failures, for I had many -- the main thing was to assure some success by trying many things and holding on to the plants which had learned that life is worth holding on to even at its bitterest. "

In 2003, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the National Park Service and the Garden Conservancy jointly preserved and restored the historic gardens.  Mediterrean plants that could survive with little water or care were imported by the California Horticultural Society and did well on the island.

The garden was relief and rehabilitation for the prisoners and is a
welcome contrast to the grim remains of the ruins and prison structures.

(more photos will be posted; review update if interested) 

The island serves as a bird nesting sanctuary for seabirds, sea gulls, comorants and the great white egret. 

You might think you are in Italy, but it is the ascending stairway to the Warden's house(formerly Officers Row) and the Penitentary 

A guard tower watching for breaks and a sign wanring others away. 

Sea gulls now nesting and resting finding a preserve here in the Officers Garden newly restored by volunteers. 

A cascading geranium plant in Officers Garden 

A picturesque dooway well weathered 

The great snowy egret resting and meditating.  

One of my favorite ruins, the former officers club now fully a promenade for the sea gulls....enroute to the Industrial buildings where Ai Wei Wei's exhibition took place.