Descanso Gardens

 La Cañada Flintridge, CA

Flowers and Friends

Public Transit?

Today we took a short drive to La Cañada Flintridge to visit childhood friends of mine.  We were heading to Descanso Gardens, just up the street from them.  There have been a few locals that have asked if we are going to see Huntington Gardens while we are staying in L.A. and when we answered "No" we were met with sad face 😞, but when we said we were going to Descanso Gardens the expression turned to happy face 😀.  It's a beautiful place.  Check out this episode of "Visiting with Huell Howser" if you want some SoCal nostalgia.  

We walked the gardens and caught up Mike and Joanne.  Joanne grew up with my Mom and I remember going to their house as a child for dinners.  Even as a child, I recognized their love of art, music, and food.

We headed to the Rose Gardens first.

They are arranged in groups rather than in rows like some other places

They were all marked with signs that told you what they were

Look a bunny!

It was a warm day so we found shade when we could

Donna checking out a California Buckeye Tree

Matilija poppies,  We call them Fried Eggs and apparently others do too

There were art installations around the garden 

Two really nice vertical gardens 

A seating area that hopefully lights up at night.  If it doesn't it's a missed opportunity

The Japanese Garden was beautiful and reminded me of Golden Gate Park

The bridge isn't as steep as the bridge in Golden Gate Park

Cool lighting in the Tea House

The blue roof really contrasts nicely with the green trees.

During our walk I talked to Mike about their trip up the coast.  They took a couple of weeks to work their way to Northern California.  They birded along the way but they also visited Botanical Gardens with their Descanso Gardens membership.  When you become a member, you get a reciprocal pass that gets you into gardens across the country.  Donna and I decided to add on to our entrance fee and buy a pass.  When I got home and looked up gardens in the areas that we will be staying at, I found a list of nearly 20, so we should get good value from our purchase.

Dinner and Childhood Memories

We were invited to dinner.  When we got to their house we were given a tour and a ton of childhood memories came back to me.  I remember really liking the the Dali Abraham Lincoln print they had and still have on the wall.  I was able to see the original at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg Florida and thought of them at the time.  I also remembered various Easter egg hunts and meals that I had there as a child.  While helping prepare dinner, I saw a grain mill they had when I was a child and it is still working and they are still making bread from fresh ground grain.  They even gave us some and I am eating a slice as I write this.

Dinner was as great as I remember them being as a child, and we were even treated to home made Mango salsa, Limoncello, and a delicious hot fudge.  On the way out they let Donna pick some Kumquats from their tree in the back yard.  They will be great road trip snacks!  

Their view

Their view of our van

When we got home I did a deep dive into US Botanical Gardens.  We have been to a few but I am now looking forward to going to quite a few more.

Yesterday we walked along the LA River.  Check out that adventure here.