April Visit to The Huntington

My husband and I made a relatively brief visit to The Huntington Gardens in San Marino last Friday.  Our purpose (or rather my purpose) was to check out the Spring Plant Sale.  Unfortunately, we got out of the house later than planned and then encountered traffic headaches on the main freeway artery into the Pasadena area so, when we arrived it was nearly 11:30am and the parking lot was completely full.  Rather than give up, we parked outside the grounds and hiked back to the garden.

Although the sale area was well-stocked, many of the plants were the same varieties offered during the Fall Plant Sale and, mindful of how far away our car was parked, I chose not to try my husband's patience by glomming onto any large specimens.  I bought 4 summer-blooming South African bulbs (1 Moraea flaccida and 3 Dipcadi viride) and a small pot of Dorycnium hirsutum (aka hairy Canary clover).  I already have a lot of the latter and it self-seeds freely but I had a spot I wanted to fill and the price was good.

While in search of a spot to have lunch, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a few photos of the rose garden, currently in full bloom.

Roses everywhere

Whichever direction you turned

All in glorious bloom

My favorite roses among those I surveyed during my brief visit were these:

'Day Breaker', a floribunda, couldn't have looked more perfect

I didn't get the name of this one.  Could it be 'Brass Band'?

I didn't get the name of this one either but isn't it's form exquisite?

There were LOTS of others worthy of mention, of which these are but a few:

I only grabbed a few names for the rest of the blooms I photographed.  Counterclockwise starting with the yellow flower on the lower left, these are: 'Phyllis Diller', 'Easy Does It', 'Vogue Anniversary', 'Strike It Rich', 'Hanky Panky', and 'Outta the Blue'.  I can't offer names for the red-flowered rose at the top right or the the soft peach rose on the top left.

After lunch, I took some shots of the California Garden near The Huntington's front entrance before we got on our way, hoping to avoid Friday's rush-hour traffic through the downtown Los Angeles corridor.

That mass of red flowers in the middle of the photo is Anigozanthos (aka kangaroo paws)

The silver structure in the distance is the Orbit Pavillion, which allows visitors to listen to the movement of NASA's earth science satellites.  I'd understood that it was to be moving on to other venues late last year but it seems to have found a longer-term home at The Huntington.

There was a lot of Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) in bloom here, along with yarrow (Achillea 'Moonshine'), foxgloves (Digitalis) and a plant I couldn't identify (possibly a form of Teucrium)

Don't the Yucca rostrata look fabulous mirroring the silver color of the Orbit Pavillion?

When we got home, I checked on my own roses.  I've a relatively small number of them and none of them can be said to be blooming in earnest at this point.

As usual, my 'Joseph's Coat' climbing rose has been the strongest bloomer but I didn't catch the full glory of its first flush (partly because my husband chooses to park his truck in front of it)

The David Austin rose 'Golden Celebration', moved from the pot that was its first home and planted outside my new lath house, has produced its first bloom in that location.  Even growing in a pot, it got very tall last year so I'm hoping for a good performance over the course of the season. 

The 'Pink Meidiland' roses at the front of the house, 6 shrubs in all, have just produced a scattering of flowers thus far

That's it for this week.  When this post appears, I should be in Austin, Texas touring gardens as part of the annual Garden Bloggers' Fling.  The weather forecast calls for rain but hopefully I'll be able to share some decent photos upon my return; however, my response to any comments you may post here will be delayed.  My husband is staying behind and has promised to take care of our cat but his assistance doesn't extend to managing my blog.  Best wishes for a pleasant weekend!


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party