Fred H. (1936) and Florence (circa 1938) Bixby. Courtesy Rancho Los Alamitos Historic
Ranch and Gardens.

history continued

The plantings reflected the high interest level in horticultural experimentation at the end of the 19th century when plant materials were coming to Southern California from around the world. According to L.H. Bailey’s Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, fruiting fig trees were likely brought north from Mexico to the Alta California (now known as the State of California), missions shortly after the missions were established at the end of the 18th century. By 1910, fig trees were grown throughout California.

While the Moreton Bay Fig is an ornamental tree and does not bear edible fruit, it was a popular planting in the late Victorian era. The Rancho Los Alamitos Moreton Bay Fig trees are interesting in that they are a matched pair as opposed to a singular planting which was the predominant taste. The generous spacing between these eighty-foot tall specimen trees has allowed their canopies to spread to 120 feet in diameter. Equally dramatic is their above ground root systems, spanning 50 to 60 feet across.

Upon Susan Bixby’s death in 1906, her son Fred Bixby and his wife Florence moved into the old adobe ranch house. The property continued to be utilized as a modest working farm. In 1923, the discovery of oil on the jointly-owned Alamitos land produced unforeseen oil revenues for the family. While the couple continued their ranching business, Florence Bixby took advantage of the windfall by hiring some of the most influential landscape architects of the day. The ranch's gardens were largely installed between the 1920s and 1940s, with many areas being designed by the Olmsted Brothers, under the patronage and vision of Florence Bixby. Florence’s intent to create beautiful, yet modest and comfortable, gardens is still evident today.