Ruth Bancroft Garden, Botanical garden in Walnut Creek, United States.

Ruth Bancroft Garden is a botanical garden in Walnut Creek, California, focused on plants that thrive in dry conditions, including agaves, aloes, and cacti. Winding paths lead through the plantings, and an on-site nursery sells regional species.

The garden grew from Ruth Bancroft's private potted-plant collection, begun in the early 1950s on Bancroft Farm, a 400-acre pear and walnut orchard bought by publisher Hubert Howe Bancroft in the 1880s. It started with a single Aeonium grown by plant breeder Glenn Davidson. In 1972 the collection moved to its present site when the orchard was cut down and the land rezoned. In 1989 it became the first garden in the United States preserved by The Garden Conservancy, and it opened to the public in 1992.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden shows how a garden can thrive with very little water, encouraging visitors to rethink how they plant at home. Regular classes are offered for people who want to learn how to grow plants suited to dry conditions.

The garden is open Wednesday through Sunday, and visitors can explore on their own or join a guided tour. Sturdy shoes are a good idea, as the paths run through uneven and slightly sloped terrain.

The garden was one of the first in the United States to be officially designated as a garden worth preserving, a status rarely granted to private gardens. This recognition helped secure the collection's future beyond the lifetime of its founder.