It had been so long since my last visit to the Huntington Botanical Gardens that I could barely remember it! Gone are the old lawns to the new entrance; apparently there have been a lot of renovations in the last two years (new gardens, new buildings) and something like fifty per cent of the lawn acreage has been replaced with drought tolerant plants, native grasses and succulents.
Ok, it was maybe not the most ideal day to walk around the 207 acre garden, temperatures in Pasadena were nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit. But, what are you going to do? As mentioned in the previous post, we (the Passionate Gardeners) had only so much time in the Los Angeles area, and visiting the Huntington was on our list.
Renovated Entrance Garden
Celebration Garden and Water Feature
There was so much to see in the newly renovated entrance gardens that we didn’t reach the Desert Garden section till noon. Phew, talk about hot! Even on a cooler day, it’s not exactly a shade garden. We managed to stagger through the entire section, although I could feel my face turning bright red towards the end (at which point I was ready to run back to the Celebration garden and jump into it’s lovely new central water feature). Anyway, I think the pictures of the Desert Garden say more than I can in words:
Walking through the Desert Garden section
Desert Garden Walk Through
Desert Garden Barrel Cactus
Desert Garden Walk Through – Made It!
BTW – The Huntington is not only a botanical garden, but also a library and art museum (the founders Henry and Arabella Huntington were avid collectors).
Why You Would Want to Visit
The Huntington’s current $25 entrance fee might sound hefty, but that price not only allows you to visit all the gardens (besides the Desert Garden, there is also a Japanese, Chinese, Australian, Herb, Subtropical garden and more), you also have access to view any of the art and science exhibits available in the multiple on site galleries. Unfortunately by the time we got to the Library Exhibits, we were out of time (and energy). The collectible books that were on display were so interesting, I could have spent several hours more just in that section. Plus the same build housed an amazing science exhibit. Darn, my eye caught those giant insect drawings in the science section – my favorite. Oh well – a reason to come back soon!!
Happy Gardening,
Judy
ps: You’ve enjoyed reading this far, so why not sign up for more! All you need to do is enter your email and be sure to confirm your subscription. That’s it! Sign up below. No spam ever and lots of fun!