Huntington Gardens - The Desert Garden

 

A few weeks ago, Mr. Mouse and I had the great fortune of being able to take a trip down to Los Angeles. Our initial plan had been to see the Huntington Library and Gardens and the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden on the same day - but once we'd started at the Huntington Gardens, we had to give up on the other garden for that visit - there was so much to see!

The desert garden alone was LA sized. Maybe Texas sized. And it had been planted to create the illusion, from many of the viewing points, that it would just go on forever.

I'm not at all an expert in desert flora, but deeply appreciated the different colors and shapes. The spiny golden barrel cactus contrasting with greyish fuzzy cacti and aloes. Variegated or very green plants. And then the flowers.

The whole place was humming with pollinators.

We were especially because the Aloe were in bloom, and the garden had a great selection!

And I much appreciated the great design. The combination of different colors and shapes was well done - and still looked quite natural.

And the drama of the large flowers - with hummingbirds flitting around happily. 

Each time you turned a corner there was another surprise.

We spent a chunk of time walking around, and then some more time sitting on a bench, listening to the birds, and enjoying the sunshine.

Then it was time to go to the other parts of the garden -- but that's for another post.