HUNTINGTON LIBRARY & BOTANICAL GARDENS

Today I decided to get out and I went to the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. Well, actually it's not Pasadena it's San Marino which I just learned today. All this time I thought it was in Pasadena. Anyone in L.A. knows where Pasadena is (most famous for the Tournament of Roses Parade) and if you're going to visit L.A. and you don't know, it's about 12 miles north of downtown L.A.

There's a little too much background information to give so I'm just going to quote this from the site and suggest you take a look at the About Page. The history of the Huntington Library is pretty interesting and is actually a research and educational institution.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution established in 1919 by Henry E. and Arabella Huntington. Henry Huntington, a key figure in the development of Southern California in the early 20th century, was also an active collector of rare books and manuscripts, art, and plants. By the time he established the institution, he and his wife had amassed an extensive collection focusing on British and American history, literature, and art, as well as rare and spectacular plant specimens.

If you plan to go, make sure you're wearing your most comfortable walking shoes because there are 120 acres of theme gardens complete with an amazing variety of trees, plants and flowers. You can walk across the expanse of lawns to admire the fountains and statues, sit on the bench under the shade of a beautiful, massive tree, sit on a bench in the camelia garden, stop to have something to drink or nibble on at the Tea Room & Cafe. Step inside the Conservatory but a warning for the ladies. If you've got curls you want to keep you might want to stay outside. The moisture and waters spraying from the ceiling will mess up your hair.



There's Japanese Garden:



A Chinese Garden:


The Camelia Garden:



The slideshow below will give you a little more of some of the things you may see and mind you, I was there three hours walking a very leisurely pace and still didn't see everything. If you've never been, what are you waiting for? Even if you go alone, take you iPOD (I did), put your headphones on and just enjoy a beautiful day and some truly beautiful gardens. I've also got some macro shots of flowers from the gardens on my photo blog Eyes, Mind, Heart.