Descanso Gardens (La Cañada Flintridge, California)

 park, garden

1418 Descanso Drive
La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011
(818) 949-4200
www.descansogardens.org/

Descanso Gardens located in La Cañada Flintridge, California is a 25 acre (101,000 m²) camellia forest.

At one time the property of the newspaper magnate E. Manchester Boddy (who owned the Los Angeles Daily News), he ran a commercial Camellia garden at this location (supplying prom boutonnières, for example) until he ceded the site to Los Angeles County in 1953.

The County has further developed the property to include a world-class rosarium, as well as a Japanese tea house, lilac garden, bird sanctuary, xeriscape, and of course a gift shop. They also regularly host professional Camellia shows, chamber music, and weddings. They are busiest however on the Easter weekend, when the tulips are in bloom and eggs are hidden on the central lawn of one acre (4,000 m²).

The original 22-room house on the site built by Mr. Boddy now hosts a variety of art exhibits, primarily by local painters and ceramists.

In 2005, David R. Brown, former president of the nearby Art Center College of Design, was appointed executive director of Descanso Gardens