The Huntington Part 1: The Gardens

Lynne and I spent an incredible day, exploring as many delights, as possible, offered by the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

I've written about this magical place before. I just wish it was closer. Located 86 miles from Temecula in San Marino (near Pasadena) this private, nonprofit institution was founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington, an exceptional businessman who built a financial empire that included railroad companies, utilities, and real estate holdings in Southern California.
Huntington was also a man of vision – with a special interest in books, art, and gardens. During his lifetime, he amassed the core of one of the finest research libraries in the world, established a splendid art collection, and created an array of botanical gardens with plants from a geographic range spanning the globe.





Our first focus was strolling the gardens, after a delicious al fresco lunch and an explore of the Visitor's Center.

Encompassing about 130 acres, the Botanical Gardens feature living collections in 16 stunning themed gardens with more than 83,000 living plants, including rare and endangered species, and a laboratory for botanical conservation and research. My goal is to actually see ALL the gardens one day!

In 1903, Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) purchased the San Marino Ranch, a working ranch about 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles with citrus groves, nut and fruit orchards, alfalfa crops, a small herd of cows, and poultry. His superintendent, William Hertrich (1878–1966), was instrumental in developing the various plant collections that make up the foundation of The Huntington’s Botanical Gardens. The property—originally nearly 600 acres—today covers 207 acres, 130 of which are open to visitors.
In 1910, Henry E. Huntington began acquiring a large collection of outdoor sculptures, personally deciding on the exact location for each piece of garden statuary. Some of the statues were moved as many as three times until Huntington was satisfied. Love is a common theme among the garden sculpture, most of which dates from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Love, Captive of Youth, was one of my favorites. Carved in 1875, it is a large scale copy of a Sévres porcelain figure created in 1791. I probably saw the original at Marjorie Merriweather Post's Hillwood Estate. Small world.
Oh my gosh... the ROSES! 
Created in 1908 for the private enjoyment of Henry E. and Arabella Huntington, the Rose Garden was primarily designed for display, providing copious amounts of cut blooms for the elaborate arrangements in their house. The three-acre Garden contains more than 3,000 individual plants and more than 1,200 different cultivated varieties, with a spring bloom beginning in late March and extending beyond November.

Part of the delight was looking at the names of each of the varietals. This one made me smile, "We love Betty both as the actress and as the rose. Like her namesake, Betty White appears to be an old-fashioned, gentle bloom, but packs a punch with her bright, very fragrant scent, and vitality! We are drawn to her many-petaled, 5" blooms with their soft blush pink to cream coloring and outstanding fragrance. Betty White is an upright, vigorous bush with mid-green, semi-glossy foliage. She always seems to be loaded down with blooms and makes long-lasting cut flowers."
The placement of Marilyn Monroe right next to John F. Kennedy, Jr. had us intrigued.
There is just something about Truth that I have always liked. She can be found on my other Huntington posts.
In As You Like It, William Shakespeare describes the Forest of Arden as having "tongues in trees, books in running brooks, Sermons in stones and good in every thing" (2.1.16-17). That's also an apt description of The Huntington, where literary treasures (including a world-class collection of the Bard's own works) flourish in the midst of nature. The Shakespeare Garden features a broad variety of plants; some cultivated in England during Shakespeare's time, some mentioned in his plays and sonnets, plus many whose ancestors trace back to plants of his Renaissance writings. From Hamlet, there are pansies, fennel, a willow tree, and rosemary; from Romeo and Juliet, a pomegranate tree; from A Midsummer Night's Dream, violets and thyme; from A Winter's Tale, daffodils and and carnations; and, of course, daisies from Love's Labour's Lost.
The Fern is found in Henry IV. Gadshill says, "We have the receipt of fern seed; we walk invisible."




I loved this Queensland Kauri, planted in 1890 and moved to its present location in 1908 to make way for construction of the Huntington mansion. Two years ago, it was measured and found to be 112 feet tall with a 27-foot-6-inch average crown spread and 235-inch trunk circumference, earning it a designation as a California Big Tree... and a big hug.

"The garden reconciles human art and wild nature,
hard work and deep pleasure,
spiritual practice and the material world.
It is a magical place because it is not divided."
-Thomas Moore

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1 comments:

Four Points Bulletin said...

Great pictures. Love the Huntington. You could spend a year wandering in those gardens and not see everything there. Such a beautiful day.

October 15, 2023 at 7:26 AM

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