What began as a neat botanical hack back in 1925 is now the crowning jewel of this monster theme park.  Bonfante Gardens is Home of the Circus Trees, and they'll remind you of that every chance they can.  That's two trees that Axel Erlandson carefully grafted together into one growing center trunk.  Michael himself supervised the process of packing and transporting these Circus Trees from their Scotts Valley original digs to Gilroy.

Often when plants are grafted, Michael explained, "the mother plant will take over and dominate the graft, or the graft will take over and the mother takes a dump, because the process isn't perfected."

Erlandson, he said, "had enough understanding of trees that he was able to put them together and make them not fight."  Since Michael hasn't figured out how to make any new Circus Trees, it's anyone's guess what the slogan of Bonfante Gardens will be when the Circus Trees die off.  About half of Erlandson's original trees are already gone.

This kid seemed completely indifferent to the Circus Trees.  He was more interested in getting in the swan boats.  When we visited, there were plenty of too-low fences and sharp edges and dangerous slippery surfaces in the park, like this roped-off pier which is just the right height for a stroller to roll under.