Huntington Museum, Library, and Gardens

In 1919, California railroad magnate Henry Huntington (1850-1927) founded the private non-profit Huntington institution. The Huntington, which is located just east of Pasadena in San Marino, houses an art museum and a rare-books research library that focuses on American and British history and literature. The Huntington is also one of the best botanical gardens in the country and includes Chinese water gardens, Japanese gardens, lily ponds, rose gardens, waterfalls, Australian gardens, jungle gardens, a greenhouse conservatory, and a desert garden.

A view toward the rose garden:

Statues line the grassy promenade leading up to the Huntington mansion:

Here is a traditional pedestrian "moon bridge" or "drum bridge" in the Japanese garden:

My favorite part of the Japanese gardens complex is the wonderful Bonsai Court which houses the collection of the Golden State Bonsai Federation:

California Juniper bonsai trees:

Next to the bonsai court is a beautiful dry garden with raked gravel:

The cacti and succulents in the outstanding desert garden are my favorite part of the Huntington:

Everything in the Chinese water garden has a charming name like "Pavilion for Washing Away Thoughts," "Lake of Reflected Fragrance," or "Isle for Welcoming Cranes." Pictured below are the "Jade Ribbon Bridge" and the "Pavilion of the Three Friends." The three friends represent courage during hard times and include the pine, which stays green all through the winter; bamboo, which is strong and flexible; and the plum tree, which flowers in cool weather.
The arches in the Jade Ribbon Bridge create beautiful full circles with their reflections. If you look closely in the picture, you can see a duck with four fluffy ducklings heading toward the bridge.

Orchids in the conservatory:

One of many fountains on the grounds:

I highly recommend that tourists to LA visit the Huntington. It is preferable to visit on a weekday if possible because the entrance fee is cheaper and the gardens are often very crowded on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Huntington is kid-friendly - children will enjoy the fish ponds, waterfalls, ducks, and little bridges in the Japanese and Chinese gardens; the lizards and hummingbirds in the desert garden; and the interactive activities in the conservatory and children's garden.


Visiting information is available at the Huntington website.


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UCLA Sculpture Garden

One of my favorite places to relax in Los Angeles is the Murphy Sculpture Garden at UCLA. The garden's collection of over 70 sculptures is displayed on 5 beautifully landscaped acres of the UCLA campus.

I included a few pictures from the sculpture garden in my earlier post on UCLA. Here are some more pictures of sculptures from the garden.

George Tsutakawa, "Obos 69" (1969), bronze:

Vladas Vildziunas, "The Bird Goddess" (1977), bronze:

Jean Arp, "Fruit hybrid dit la pagode" ("Hybrid Fruit Called Pagoda")(1934), bronze:

Barbara Hepworth, "Elegy III" (1966), bronze:

Sorel Etrog, "War Rememberance" (1960-1961), bronze:

Aristide Maillol, "Tete heroique" ("Heroic Head")(1923), bronze:

Aristide Maillol, "Torso" (1938), bronze:

Williams Zorach, "Victory" (1950), bronze:

Gerhard Marcks, "Freya" (1949), bronze:

Gerhard Marcks, "Maja" (1942), bronze:

Gaston Lachaise, "Standing Woman" (1932), bronze:

Robert Graham, "Dance Column II" (1978), bronze:

Henri Laurens, "Automne" (1948), bronze:

Henry Moore, "Two-Piece Reclining Figure, No. 3" (1961), bronze:

Francisco Zuniga, "Desnudo Reclinado" (1979), bronze:

David Smith, "Cubi XX" (1964), welded steel:

Jean Arp, "Ptolomee III" (1961), bronze:

Bernard ("Tony") Rosenthal, "Abstract Plaque" (1964), welded sheet bronze:

George Rickey, "Two Lines Oblique Down, Variation II" (1970), stainless steel:

Deborah Butterfield, "Pensive" (1996), bronze:

UCLA's main art building, which is located adjacent to the sculpture garden, was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In 2006, Richard Meier & Partners Architects completed the restoration, renovation, and seismic retrofit of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Center. In order to reduce costs and environmental impact, the architects reused the existing eight-story concrete structure. They added a support butress on the left side of the building to provide needed stuctural reinforcement, created exterior walkways with teak shades for sun protection, and remodeled the interior classrooms and workspaces. Richard Serra's 2006 sculpture "T.E.U.C.L.A." (Torqued Ellipse UCLA) sits in front of the entrance to the new art center:

There are many more sculptures in the garden that are not pictured here including works by Alexander Calder, Henri Matisse, Isamu Noguchi, and August Rodin. For a more complete list of the sculptures and other art on the UCLA campus see: Public Art in Los Angeles' UCLA page.

If you are ever in the UCLA area, I recommend a visit to the sculpture garden - the UCLA campus is open to the public and access to the sculpture garden is free (although parking is not).

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Desert Garden Conservatory

Here are a few pictures of the cacti and succulents housed in the Desert Garden Conservatory at the Huntington Gardens:







For more pictures and information about the Huntington Library, Museum, and Gardens, check out my earlier post about the Huntington or the Huntington website.

L.A. County Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

Los Angeles County operates a large arboretum and botanical garden in Arcadia. The L.A. County Arboretum is less pristine than L.A's privately operated botanical gardens like the nearby Huntington, but admission is cheaper and the grounds are less crowded.


Like many of California's botanical gardens, the L.A. Arboretum's collection focuses on plants from other regions with Mediterranean climates including the Mediterranean basin, Chile, South Africa, western and southern Australia, and northwestern Mexico. The L.A. County Arboretum also includes landscaped ponds, streams, and waterfalls.


There are many birds and animals at the Arboretum including dozens of beautiful Indian Blue Peacocks that walk around very slowly and make loud, horrible noises.

A close-up of a peacock's iridescent tail feathers:
A peacock in front of the women's restroom with its tail fully fanned:
A rear view of the peacock:
An Arboretum staff member taught me that female peacocks are called "peahens" and baby peacocks are "peachicks."

A colorful little Wood Duck:

A Black-Crowned Night-Heron:

A little turtle sunning himself on a log:

The LA County Arboretum is located at 301 North Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia, CA. Visiting information is available on the Arboretum's website.


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Exposition Park Rose Garden

The City of Los Angeles has operated the 7-acre formal Rose Garden in Exposition Park since 1928. It is a traditional rose garden including concentric plots of rose bushes laid out symmetrically around a central fountain.

The garden includes over 20,000 rose bushes and over 200 different types of roses.

The garden, which is a nice location for a stroll or a picnic, is open from 9 in the morning until sundown but is closed from January 1st through March 15th for maintenance and pruning. A number of child-friendly museums surround the garden in Exposition Park including The California Science Center, The California African American Museum, and The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. Exposition Park is also across the street from the University of Southern California campus.



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