Tevis posing by one of his prized exotic plants, a giant gunnera from Brazil. (Image from Los Gatos Library, Novitiate Collection)

Bear Creek Redwoods Upper Lake Interpretive Tour: Stop 7 - Tevis Roses

Tevis posing by one of his prized nonnative plants, a giant gunnera from Brazil. (Image from Los Gatos Library, Novitiate Collection)
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Bear Creek Redwoods Upper Lake Interpretive Walk Stop 7

Dr. Harry L. Tevis was a dentist by training but a horticulturalist by trade. He worked alongside 43 full-time gardeners to grow crops, breed prize-winning blooms and experiment with rare and exotic plants.

Tevis' vegetable gardens. (Image from the Jesuit Archives and Research Center)
Tevis' gardens. (Image from the Jesuit Archives and Research Center)

Tevis’ flower gardens included dahlias and lilies, but his favorite plants were roses — he cultivated 38 separate varieties. Tevis was generous by nature, often giving fruit, flowers and plants as gifts. In 1916, he donated 400 rose bushes to be planted on public lands in Los Gatos.

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