The Huntington Botanical Gardens
Just outside Pasadena and close to Los Angeles, The Huntington can be a gorgeous part of an LA trip.
The fourteen interconnected botanical gardens of The Huntington provide outside time, culture, and some education about the plant world. Spend time here and relax.
Travel plans for Los Angeles could be rounded out, culturally, with a detour to Pasadena. Just outside the Pasadena's city lines is The Huntington, with its world-class art collection, library, and botanical gardens. A trip to Huntington is a great way to spend quality family time. It's hard to beat walking (or running, if you're one of my children) in 150 acres of gorgeous gardens, knowing that it qualifies as a rare family trifecta: a child-friendly cultural experience, healthy outside activity, and quality family time, all in one afternoon.
The Huntington Botanical Gardens are comprised of fourteen connected gardens, each with its own theme.
- The Australian Garden - Lots of eucalyptus, of course, but also many other interesting plant species endemic to Australia. This garden seemed to be in a weedy state of neglect last time I was there, but I was told that more attention is now being paid to the Australian Garden.
- The Botanical Conservatory - Scientific in nature (no pun intended), this enclosed garden is a research center with public accessibility and an interactive educational area. Children age 9 and up will enjoy sections like the Carnivorous Plant Bog. You don't have to be a pre-teen to think that a Carnivorous Plant Bog sounds pretty cool!
- The Camellia Garden - There is something very feminine about this garden, what with the many shades of delicate pink camellias throughout. These long-blooming flowers are almost always picture-ready, and the statuary from the 1600s and 1700s throughout the garden lend a timeless, romantic feeling to a stroll here.
- The Children's Garden - This garden is my children's favorite, of course, as it is the most child-friendly and interactive. Air, Earth, Fire and Water are the themes in each area, with age-appropriate examples and hands-on explorations regarding how each of the four ancient elements is crucial for plant (and animal) life.
- The Desert Garden - Started in 1907, this area of Huntington is home to many species of succulents, including the largest collection of aloe outside of Africa. My favorite plant species in the Desert Garden is the 85+ year old Golden Barrel cacti, but the oldest plant is at least 40 years older than that.
- The Herb Garden - While much of the Huntington has a floral scent, this one is definitely foody, especially if you're in Los Angeles in the Spring. In the Fall, however, the tiny blooms of the Tea Olive scent the air with an indescribable sweetness. My kids are a little bored here, but I think it's lovely.
- The Japanese Garden - This is my favorite garden in Huntington; peaceful, zen-like, and at least partially built by a Japanese craftsman. A slow walk over the arching bridge is calming - even my kids slow down to take in the serene, quiet beauty of the carefully constructed and maintained landscape. There's a station where kids (and adults) can read up on Japanese culture and its relationship with Japanese gardens.
- The Jungle Garden - It's so nice to take a trip to a rain forest without ever leaving Southern California. A thick canopy of trees above and the waterfall and pond below create the right tropical atmosphere. The plentiful ferns, bromeliads and other rain forest plants look just right. The Jungle Garden is a self-contained rain forest, minus the giant bugs and malaria.
- The Lily Ponds - Koi, turtles, ducks and geese swim around the water lilies, lotus plants, and papyrus. There is a big seahorse fountain in one of the 5 lily ponds here that I find especially photogenic. It's a little smelly sometimes.
- The Palm Garden - Palms here are more tolerant of the sun's baking rays than are those in the Jungle Garden, which evolved in rain forests to be more moisture-dependent. Whenever I stroll around the Palm Garden, I am impressed by the sheer diversity in the palm genera and species. One of my children likes to pretend she's gone back to the time of dinosaurs (these plants really are quite prehistoric) and my younger kid enjoys running amok here.
- The Rose Garden - It's best to visit the Rose Garden when it's in full bloom: Between April and June, this garden really is a sight to see. The rose fragrance is so strong, the air seems almost heavy with it. Winter holiday travelers to Los Angeles would do better to focus elsewhere, but in the spring and summer, this is a perfect 3+ acre English country rose garden. The adjacent Rose Garden Cafe is a pleasant pit stop to refuel during a tour of the botanical gardens.
- The Shakespeare Garden - An English garden, but not at all like the Rose Garden, this one has an - obviously - Shakespearean theme. Many of the plants in the Shakespeare Garden are examples of species mentioned in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. The Huntington Library is host to original works by William Shakespeare: The garden accentuates this nicely. It's made to resemble a woodland glade, and it works. I can easily imagine Puck committing some mischief here. For Shakespeare buffs, each flower and plant featured in a Shakespearean work is labeled with a quote. Culture and a sense of magic! I really love this garden.
- The Subtropical Garden - Plenty of blooms here, even in winter. A Los Angeles trip with a Huntington Gardens detour isn't complete without a walk through this garden. Los Angeles isn't a subtropical region, of course, but these less hardy plant species thrive because the garden is on a south-facing hill, which absorbs heat from the sun all day and radiates it back out at night.
The Huntington Botanical Gardens received a 2 million dollar matching funds grant to create a Chinese Garden. This is currently under construction, however, it can be previewed as a work in progress. I haven't seen it yet, but the description and plans make it sound major. It's supposed to open to the public in 2008.
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The Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena
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