A visit to Huntington Gardens (Part 2, the Desert Garden)

My friend and I had only about three hours for our visit to the the Huntington Gardens last weekend so we focused on three areas, the Japanese and Chinese Gardens, which were covered in my last post, and the Desert Garden.  This post addresses the latter garden.

Leaving the Chinese Garden, we looped back past the Japanese Garden and the Rose Garden and wended our way through a pathway edging the Sub-tropical and Jungle Gardens.  We didn't linger but I snapped a couple of photos as we sped by.

Although in a relatively open area, I'm guessing this was part of the Jungle Garden.  I'm also guessing that the spectacular plant in the middle of the display is a giant philodendron of some kind, possibly a member of the Thaumatophyllum genus.

We also saw this plant, which I was surprised to find labeled as Cordyline stricta 'Soledad'

As we entered the Desert Garden, I was juggling two cameras, one being my phone, so when processing my photos I lost my sense of the garden's flow.  Backtracking here and there didn't help matters but I've done my best to give you a sense of the space.  For those of you familiar with the Huntington's Desert Garden, please note that the Desert Garden Conservatory and the surrounding area in the garden's upper section are currently closed for renovation.

I'm fairly certain this is one of the first plants I aimed my camera at in the Desert Garden.  It's a Myrtillocactus geometrizans.  I remember seeing a much smaller crested version of this plant recently, which grabbed my attention too.

I'm largely uninformed when it comes to identifying cacti but I was also intrigued by what may be a Trichocereus with another plant growing within its embrace.  The latter reminded me of Xylosma; however, this plant appeared to have a more vining habit.

Mixes like this always appeal to me.  A sign identified the upright plant in the foreground as Echinocereus viereckii.  There are a couple of Agave victoriae-reginae nearby (middle, left) but I won't attempt IDs for the rest of the plants shown here.

I won't try to identify the plants here either except to point out the huge Opuntias in the background

Compositions including what I assume are Echinocactus grusonii (aka barrel cactus)

I tried to get an ID for the colorful flowering shrub shown here but I couldn't find a label.  My phone's app identified it as Caesalpinia, although the flowers didn't look like those I'm familiar with.

I think the tortured-looking plant is a Stenocereus alamosensis (aka octopus cactus)

The last time I tried to identify an epiphytic cactus like the one shown climbing the tree here, I called it an Epiphyllum, only to later discover it was Selenicereus (aka dragon fruit).  Your guess is as good as mine on this one.

The ice plant in front was labeled as Lampranthus and the shrub behind it is clearly a Caesalpinia

I snapped closeup photos of some plants.

Clockwise from the upper left, Agaves I'm fairly certain I could identify include: a variegated (and very twisted) Agave americana, A. attenuata 'Boutin Blue', one labeled as A. macroculmis (which San Marcos Growers describe as a synonym for A. gentryi), A. parryi, and A. attenuata 'Ray of Light'

Agaves I couldn't identify include the toothy specimens on the left (which my phone app identified as a spiral aloe!) and the variegated specimens on the right, which at first glance looked like Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor'  but they exhibit a different growth habit than any 'Quadicolors' I've seen

There were more Echinocactus grusonii than I've seen anywhere else

Two flowering Echinopsis without cultivar names

A very large display of Echium wildpretii blooming en masse

I had to hunt online for an ID on the charming (if prickly) plant on the left, which I think could be Opuntia microdasys f. monstrosa 'Crazy Bunny Ears'.  I presume the one on the right is Opuntia santa-rita.

The Huntington is known for its Puya collection but it was no longer at its peak.  I think the first plant on the upper left is actually a Dyckia, possibly D. 'Tricolor'.  Clockwise from the middle of the top row are 2 unidentified Puya and P. spathacea (shown both in a closeup and a wide shot). 

Two tree-sized plants: Ceiba insignis (aka silk floss tree, left) and a Nolina (right)

Clockwise from the upper left, assorted other succulents include: noID Aloe (fronted by Portulacaria afra), some kind of Echinocereus, a colorful Haworthia, and Erythrina acanthocarpa

Hunting down genus and species names online is an educational exercise for me, although I look forward to the day when plant identification applications and similar tools can reliably do the job for me.  It seems harder to come by plant labels in botanical gardens these days - they're either missing, buried, or applicable to some plant since removed.  In a botanical garden as old as the Huntington Gardens, many of the plants have grown large enough to cover their original labels.  The tag underneath the Erythrina was labeled Lobiva, which I took at face value until I looked up that genus and went to work digging up the plant's true identity online.

As we headed toward the exit, we passed the California Garden.

Although called the "California Garden," it's planted with a variety of species suitable to a Mediterranean climate like ours.  The area shown here, bisected by a long water feature that empties into a small pool, is a sub-section referred to as the "Celebration Garden."  More information can be found here. 

I spotted a tree-sized Grevillea 'Moonlight' as we walked on.

This area was also part of the California Garden, which encompasses 6.5 acres

So that was our trip to the Huntington Gardens.  We didn't even set foot into any of the art museums, much less tour all sixteen of the themed gardens.  Even a full day wouldn't be enough to cover everything.

If you're in the US, best wishes for a happy Memorial Day weekend!  Safe travels if you're venturing out to celebrate our unofficial start of summer.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

A visit to The Huntington Gardens (Part 1)

A close friend scored tickets to The Huntington Gardens and made an entrance reservation for our visit last Saturday.  We met at her house rather than traveling in separate vehicles as parking (which isn't reserved) is always a problem.  In addition, traveling to the Huntington from my house requires driving through the most congested area of downtown Los Angeles, which is never fun.  I did that every weekday for eight years for one job and periodically in connection with another job but I avoid it like the plague now.  By comparison, the trip from my friend's home was a relative breeze.

Once we'd checked in, we headed to the Conservatory.  I took a few photos there but the light inside was terrible and they're not worth sharing.  This post will focus on the Japanese and Chinese Gardens but here are a few photos I snapped between the Conservatory and the Japanese Garden.

At the Huntington, even the transitional areas between the themed gardens are wonderful

This arbor-covered pathway leads from the Rose Garden to the Japanese Garden

Although it's not nearly as colorful as areas like the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden has always been one of my favorites.  In this case, the experience is more about the landscape architecture than individual plants.  In fact, I'm posting the following photos with very few descriptions for a change.

This is an panoramic shot from the upper entrance to the Japanese Garden

There are lots of winding paths and stairways to navigate the changes in elevation

The moon bridge

Elements of the Japanese House shown in the background were built in Japan and shipped to Pasadena in 1904.  The structure was acquired by Henry Huntington in 1911.

I took a few photos from the outskirts of the Japanese Garden too.

I've no idea what this tree-like shrub is but I loved its form and the way the leaves dangling from each branch caught the light

Paulownia kawakamii (aka sapphire dragon tree, left) and a low profile water feature (right)

We moved on the Chinese Garden next, officially known as Liu Fang Yuan or the Garden of Flowing Fragrance in English.  Like the Japanese Garden, the design and structure of the Chinese Garden is what stands out.  I haven't added a lot of commentary here either but much more information on the 15-acre garden, which opened to the public in 2008, is available here.

This is the Lake of Reflected Fragrance

The garden's design is modeled after principles established in the 16th and 17th centuries for gardens in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai

This waterfall was tucked into one edge of the garden.  Much of the limestone rock used throughout the garden was quarried from locations inside of China.

I took just a few closeups.

Left to right: bonsai display; a peony, one of the few shots of color in the garden at the time of our visit; and an example of one of the rocks said to be invested with energy

Huge orchid, Cymbidium Pauwelsii 'Kessander', with its own story

View of the exterior wall of the Chinese Garden

Part 2 of my visit will focus on the Desert Garden, which I'll cover later this week.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

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