Oasis for Ecology

It’s the last place you would expect to see an exotic garden of flowers and plants from Australia and South Africa. But deep in the rugged, chaparral-covered mountains behind Ojai lies a spectacular oasis.

The garden is part of the 270-acre environmental hub known as the International Center for Earth Concerns. This focus of Earth-saving activity--from the endangered cheetah to bird monitoring--formally opened in 1994.

The oak-studded grounds of this wilderness retreat serve as the setting for a flurry of environmentally sensitive workshops for artists, naturalists, writers and even fly-fishermen.

But if you want a taste of what it’s all about, you can take what the center calls its garden-path guided walk. It’s a half-hour stroll through the South African and Australian gardens, offered several times during the month, but only occasionally on the weekends. The next one is May 4.

The spacious gardens are a fraction of the center’s property. Paths meander through them for a gentle walk. Now that the blooming season is here, you’ll see magnificent king proteas, South Africa’s national flower. As big as eight inches across, these soft pink blooms are an artichoke look-alike. You’ll also see giant aloes, daisy-like gazanias, carpets of mesembryanthemum.

“This is a little exotic gem, surrounded by natural California,” said Vance G. Martin, the center’s executive director. In fact, many of the plants now common to California--such as ice plant--originated in South Africa, he said. They are well adapted to this climate.

So how did this oasis wind up in the back country of Ojai? It all started with John Taft, a 62-year-old Ventura native, who bought the property in two sections during the 1970s. It was an old cattle ranch back then, overgrown with dense brush that hard labor and a devastating fire in 1985 finally cleared.

“I bought it to put agriculture in,” said Taft, a tall, sturdy, ruddy-faced man. “I ordered avocados but the man never showed up.” Instead, Taft eventually put in some cut flowers, South African varieties, to make some money off the land.

“The place started to turn into a garden, not agriculture,” he said. “People started to use it and enjoy it.”

Taft’s own history has had a few interesting turns. He worked for a time in the family electrical business, made environmental films in the 1970s, and co-developed two shopping centers in Ventura.

It was the profits from those developments and some family money that enabled him, along with his wife, Melody, to do what they’ve done with the land. “It was a gift from God--I wanted to give it back,” he said. “It’s always been my desire to help the environment.”

Taft is a self-taught naturalist--plant names escape him. “I can’t remember them.” His horticultural roots go deeper: “It’s just feeling the miracle of life.” Why South Africa and Australia? “The plants literally called me.”

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Clearly, the environment is his passion. He points to 30 years of involvement with the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society. He speaks grandly of turning the center into “a gigantic outdoor classroom for nature, the arts and the humanities.”

You can’t help but feel inspired when walking the grounds. Birds are everywhere. There are other lush gardens spots, lagoons, pools, fountains, places to paint, bird watch or simply reflect.

The center opened as a cooperative effort between three environmentally concerned organizations: Taft’s Conservation Endowment Fund, the Humane Society of the United States, and the International Wilderness Leadership Foundation.

A new educational pavilion, an airy building decorated with primitive art, went up recently. The center does “earthshops” for school classes. For adults, the list of upcoming workshops is impressive: a five-day fine arts workshop with artists Len Chmiel, George Carlson and Dan Pinkham; a weekend backpacking trip for women; bird-watching hikes.

This Saturday, herbalist-naturalist Lanny Kaufer will lead a walk into the center’s back country, talking about plants and herbs along the way. Participants will picnic as well.

Don’t get the idea that this is an easy-to-find place where you can just drop by and wander around. All activities are by reservation, and that’s your ticket in to see the place. Secondly, it’s a little tough to get to. It’s nearly two miles up an unmarked road off Highway 150. At one point, you’ll encounter a gate where you’ll need to phone the center to gain entrance.

Once past this checkpoint, it’s a pretty drive past a few residences up into the canyon that surrounds the center’s grounds. The mountain views are magnificent, and once at the center, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into a little Shangri-la.

DETAILS

* WHAT: International Center for Earth Concerns.

* WHERE: Off Highway 150 near Ojai.

* WHEN: Herb walk with Lanny Kaufer, Saturday; garden path guided walks, May 2, 4, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28 and 30.

* COST: Herb walk, $10; garden path walk, $5. Reservations required.

* CALL: 649-3535.

* FYI: The center is open to the public only through its activities, which require advance registration.