Ruth Bancroft was the owner and designer of a four-acre dry garden in Walnut Creek, California. She grew up around Berkeley and discovered an early love of gardening as a child in her family's backyard. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in architecture but chose to pursue a career in teaching during the Great Depression as a form of job security. During her travels and teaching she met Philip Bancroft, Jr. and the two were married in 1939. She moved into the historic house and garden in Walnut Creek and began the steps to create a garden for her cactus and succulent collection in 1971. She worked with Lester Hawkins, a landscape architect and began forming connections with the Botanic Garden and California Horticulture Society. Bancroft began a collaboration with the Garden Conservancy which involved garden tours and various other public programs. In this interview, Bancroft discusses the Bancroft family, the Peterssons in Berkeley, first gardens, education, the Great Depression, marriage, first garden in Walnut Creek, the freezes of 1972 and 1990, a walking tour of the garden and discussion of plants, the garden's future, work with the Garden Conservancy, being in the public eye and relations with the City of Walnut Creek. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting California horticulture.