Huntington Desert Garden the perfect ending to my 2015 winter desert trip
Today is the last day of my desert road trip. Unlike other trips, which go out with a whimper, this one ended on a high note—a very high note.
At 8 a.m. this morning I met up with three fellow garden bloggers at the Huntington in San Marino, CA: Denise of A Growing Obsession, Gail of Piece of Eden (and her husband who took lots of photos), and Luisa of Crow and Raven. After a good 30 minutes marveling at the new entrance to the Huntington, we spent almost three hours exploring the world-famous Desert Garden.
Many aloes (and some other succulents) were in full bloom, creating a seemingly inexhaustible supply of photo ops. Below are just a few teaser images. Detailed posts will follow in the weeks to come.
Part of the new entrance: water rill with plants from dry-climate areas around the world
One of many drool-worthy vistas in the Desert Garden
Who says winter has to be dull?
More aloe magic
Denise, Luisa and Gail
Inspired combination of Cleistocactus and Aeonium ‘Sunburst’
Taking great photos at the Huntington is easy: just point and shoot!
One of my favorite spots in the entire Desert Garden
Kalanchoe marnieriana in full bloom
After a very good lunch at the new café in the Huntington’s entrance plaza, I began my 6-hour drive home.
Somewhere south of Bakersfield, traffic on Interstate 5 first slowed to a crawl and then to a complete stop. The reason? Tumbleweed!
I’ve seen a lot of tumbleweed, but never blowing across four lanes of freeway traffic!
Tomorrow I’ll show you which goodies I brought home from my trip.
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I love that view of the entrance garden and the rill. Wonderful photos. It was so easy to fall in step with all of you at the Huntington -- I can't believe the opinions I let fly, like trash-talking Callistemon 'Little John.' We'll have to do it again soon!
ReplyDeleteOur Huntington get-together was the highlight of my trip. Nothing better than trash-talking garden bloggers!
DeleteP.S. Little John is a big boy and can take it!
DeleteReally remarkable place. Thanks for sharing the photos.
ReplyDeleteWhat's even more remarkable is that the Desert Garden is just a small part of the entire Huntington estate. One of these days I'll explore the other gardens, including the Chinese and Japanese gardens, the palm garden, the Australian garden... And then there is the world-renowned Huntington Library and the art collections. It would be easy to spend three or four days there!
DeleteExcellent photos--Alan took one almost identical to #3. What a scene that was with the Kalanchoe blooming so lavishly.
ReplyDeleteThe tumbleweeds--wow.
No matter where I turned, there was something interesting to see and photograph. There are few places that keep my attention the way the Huntington Desert Garden does. Exploring it with y'all added yet another layer to the experience. I'm so glad we were able get together.
DeleteWonderful photos! I look forward to seeing the whole panoply. I'm glad you got home safely.
ReplyDeleteThe drive home was quite a slog. Much more traffic than I would have expected. Where are people going all the time?
DeleteIf I wasn't so happy to imagine you all together I would be insanely jealous! Those tumble weeds...Wowsa! Rather large...
ReplyDeleteYour name came up in conversation more than once so in a sense you were there with us :-).
DeleteBeautiful photos Gerhard!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Greg. After all the beauty I saw in Arizona, this was the icing on the cake. When it comes to aloes, nobody beats the Huntington.
DeleteGotta get back to the Huntington.
ReplyDeleteYou've convinced me.
I so wish I lived closer to the Huntington so I could buy a membership and go whenever I wanted!
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