EventsCalifornia

By Craig MacDonald

The gardens of California provide great visits, vacations, or just weekend excursions. These wonderful adventures offer a lifetime of memories within just a few hours. Small gardens worth exploring may require an hour of your time, while  a half a day scratches the surface of the large gardens that grace Southern California, known for its lush and fertile year-round growing climate and soils.

In Orange County, Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona del Mar features   unique palms, tropical flowers, and  blooms that are lovely to look at. Located on Pacific Coast Highway south of Fashion Island shopping mall in Newport Beach, you can easily drop by during a visit to beaches and theme parks.

Los Angeles County has quite a few gardens to check out, and two of the favorites include hidden gems such in Long Beach. Historic ranchos operated by the city, Rancho Los Alamitos and Rancho Los Cerritos, both include mature trees up to 100 years old, a unique bamboo forest, succulents and flowering plants. The buildings themselves offer rich histories into early California's rancho era, and the gardens provide somewhat authentic experiences of what the residents may have enjoyed during their lives on the ranch 100 years ago.  Each of the rancho gardens is easily covered in about an hour.

Large gardens that require much more time to explore provide half day and day trips during a vacation, or visit in your own backyard" in Southern California.

Huntington Library and Gardens is the queen of gardens, with over 14,000 unique  plants in over a dozen garden themed areas that include Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Shakespeare Garden, Camellia Garden, Jungle Garden, Palm Garden, Chinese Gardens, Subtropical Garden, Lily Ponds, Herb Garden, Desert Garden, Children's Garden, Australian Garden and Conservatory. Today the grounds are only one-third their original size but of the 200 plus acres that the complex spans, over 120 acres are landscaped and open to the public to view at your own pace. (huntington.org)

The Getty garden & grounds, Descanso Gardens, and The Getty Villa, all offer inspiration with their palatial settings and stately designs. While one L.A. garden will require a taking a boat excursion several hours from the mainland and back (an hour each way), the Wrigley Garden on Catalina Island is especially beautiful after a rain. Although there's a better known 4.5 acre rose garden at Pasadena's Tournament of Roses headquarters, Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Gardens on the island honors the chewing gum king, William Wrigley, with a hilltop memorial that requires a climb up a hill, then a set of steps beyond the Desert Plant Collection.

In San Diego, Carlsbad Flower Fields are in bloom each spring with ranunculus. One of the most popular commercial tours in Southern California, this adventure allows visitors to wander through the fields on roped paths. San Diego Botanic Garden (formerly Quail Botanical Gardens,)  in Encinitas includes a bamboo forest, reflecting ponds, trickling streams along wooded trails, and many special events throughout the seasons. This garden is easy to access from the Interstate 5 Freeway (SDBGarden.org)

In the City of San Diego throughout the 13 museums of Balboa Park where you can wander the lush grounds and gardens free, one of the best free admission attractions is the "Lathe Palace" and reflecting pool with lily pads.

Living desert gardens in Joshua Tree National Park and Palm Desert provide stark contrasts, and are extremely popular in the spring after it rains. That's when you may be treated to cacti blossoms, a rare and delightful sight!  Southern California climate affords the unique advantage of allowing flowers to grow all year long. For travelers and residents the gardens are nearly always open, providing opportunities to smile, smell and see the vibrant beauty that exists in the semi-desert climate of Southern California. Come & enjoy!