Where am I Wednesday: SDSU's Mediterranean Garden
The Mediterranean Garden features species of plants representative of the earth's five major Mediterranean ecosystems.
In the mid-1990s, three San Diego State University faculty members teamed up with staff in Facilities Services to create a botanic display in the one-acre space. But the garden committee also wanted this new space to serve as an educational resource — not simply an aesthetically pleasing sanctuary.
Tucked into a rectangular space between the Physical Sciences and Life Sciences Buildings to the east and Hepner Hall to the west, the Mediterranean Garden serves as one of SDSU's most popular campus spots.
The campus oasis includes plants from five continents, gifts from three graduating classes and the labors of dozens of current and former Aztec faculty, staff and students.
This peaceful enclave, now a popular spot for meeting friends, eating lunch and taking a break between classes, was originally called the Freshman Quad. At its entry point — just west of the current Faculty-Staff Club — is the Hello Walkway, a nod to the once-popular Aztec tradition of having seniors formally welcome incoming freshmen and those same freshmen wish seniors farewell at graduation.
