Descanso
Garden
La
Canada Flintridge, California
March 2008
It’s
funny how some gardens can stay under your radar. I’ve been
visiting and working in public gardens for more than 25 years and
never visited Descanso. Whenever I was in the LA area, I’d visit
the Huntington and the LA County Arboretum and feel like I’d seen
everything worth seeing. I’d heard the name Descanso, even met
people who worked there, but somehow nothing I heard inspired me to
visit. Well this garden really needs to toot its own horn a little
more loudly. It is really quite spectacular.
You enter into a beautiful walled courtyard bordered by a gift shop
and cafe. It is a very inviting space with gardens and a water
feature.
The center of the 160 acre garden is dominated by camellias,
growing in the shade of huge old California live oaks.
Camellias are generally winter bloomers, so March is about the end
of the flowering season, but many were still in full bloom. The
diversity of the camellias on display came as quite a surprise to
me. From compact, knee high shrubs to 25 foot trees, with flowers
ranging from small to large in colors from yellows and whites to
pinks and reds, it’s quite a display.
Most plants are well-labeled so gardeners can select varieties for
their homes. There is also a ramada with large interpretive signs
to provide more information about camellias and the camellia
collection.
The other large plant collection is the International Rosarium, a
5-acre garden displaying more than 3,000 roses of all types, from
climbers to shrubs and old and new varieties. Unfortunately, March
is too early for roses and except for a few isolated blooms we had
to content ourselves with reading the extremely informative signage
and admiring the companion plants.
Even without flowers it was interesting to see the different growth
forms and read about the various types of roses and their origins.
I look forward to a trip back in the summer to see the roses in
full bloom.
Next to the Rosarium is a large Iris garden. Again, March is the
wrong season and we saw only a couple of isolated flowers but signs
say the garden features 1500 varieties, so another reason to come
back.
There is also a lilac garden, featuring more than 500 plants.
Several lilac varieties have been developed at Descanso and are
highlighted in the garden.
A small Japanese Garden with a tile-roofed teahouse and a red
Shinto bridge sits in the middle of a forest.
In addition to these garden collections, there are several
natural-feeling areas. The 10-acre California Garden is set in
native California chaparral with meandering trails running through.
A small lake has a bird observation station looking out over
it.
The 22 room Boddy House Mansion was closed to the public during our
visit but looks like a grand estate house.
We spent 4 hours and there’s enough to see that I am anxious to go
back.
Click here to
see more photos from Descanso Gardens.
To visit the official website of Descanso Gardens, click
here.