Family History Garden

Make Your Family Tree Bloom: Plant a Family History Garden at Pacifica Garden

Families are amazing things. Celebrate yours by planting your own Family History Garden at Pacifica: A Garden in the Siskiyous. A record of history, a living testimonial to all the joy and pain, fun and work that makes up a living family.

If you want to remember one person, we can provide a plant and permanent plaque in their honor. Or, if you have researched a “family-tree,” we can turn that into a plaque to go with your “living-tree” or with your own small picnic-area garden within our 400-acre Botanic Garden. Each mini-garden will be planted in a semi-circle for privacy and cohesiveness, approximately 30 to 40 feet across, around a picnic table.

With your information, we can provide a series of informative signs for individual members of your family through the ages, showing on which family “branch” they reside, along with something about what they did (“black sheep” are often as interesting as “white sheep!”) or something about the history of that time and place.

Currently there are two Family History Gardens:

The first is for the Nanscawen Family, which includes interpretive displays (activities) for each century (15-20^th) with appropriate plants.

The second is for the Messinger Family, the family that originally homesteaded this property. The interpretations and plants in this garden include: the trip west, gold panning and logging, and the Messinger family in early Josephine County history.

Each of the displays includes a hands-on activity for kids and kids-at-heart.

If you would like to arrange for a flowering, informative tribute to your family tree, please contact Pacifica for information and prices.

Family History Garden can also include a memory garden bench.