Huntington Gardens Comforts and Rejuvenates in Times of Turmoil.

Story and Photos by John Sundsmo.

Feature image: The Chinese Garden.

Gardens provide solace in times of turmoil. Mother Nature comforts, nourishes, embraces the spirit, and rejuvenates the soul. To escape, my wife and I planned a short visit to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. Navigating the 120-acre garden seemed daunting, but booking a photography tour ensured we wouldn’t miss anything.

Overview: Our garden tour included the Rose, Chinese, Japanese and Cactus Gardens with timing for good photography. At the end of our journey through each distinctly themed garden, we enjoyed a brief but excellent repast in the museum’s outdoor café. Then, nearing closing time, we returned to the Chinese Garden to capture the late afternoon ambiance.

History: Who was Huntington, and why was he able to establish the grand Huntington Library and Gardens?

As a history buff who grew up in Southern California, I always wondered at the innovative electric railways and streetcars that connected all areas of the greater Los Angeles basin in the early 1900s. Looking at the maze of freeways today, it is hard to imagine that the San Fernando Valley and Orange, Riverside, and Los Angeles Counties were all connected by electric trains as early as the 1930s – something California would dearly love today. Near where I grew up was a historic square concrete building next to the Amtrak railroad tracks marked “Pacific Electric Railway Company Power Station”. When my father and I searched for used car parts in Long Beach, we came across beautiful red and green wooden streetcars from a Los Angeles electric streetcar system dismantled in the 1950s and ‘60s.

In my research, I discovered that Henry Edwards Huntington (1850-1927) was the innovative entrepreneur responsible for both the Pacific Electric Railroad and the red and green street cars, as well as the land development connecting all the stations on those rail and streetcar lines. His land companies subdivided most of the Los Angeles basin and sold the lots. Huntington’s name is still attached to the towns, streets, and landmarks his companies created, such as Huntington Beach, Huntington Park, and Huntington Lake. His luxurious home was the Marino Mansion in San Marino, a town he created by subdividing his 600-acre Marino Ranch in Pasadena.

Marino Mansion is now the Huntington Library: The garden established at his mansion in the 1920s is now the resplendent Huntington Gardens. (If you are also a history buff, this Huntington was not one of the four robber barons of the first transcontinental Central Pacific Railroad: Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, and Collis Potter Huntington, Henry E. Huntington’s uncle.)

Marino Mansion: Anabella Huntington, the beautiful wife of Henry E. Huntington, was previously the young widow of the older Collis Potter Huntington (Henry’s uncle). Her inheritance of more than fifty million dollars (the equivalent of one billion dollars today) made her the wealthiest woman in America in 1900. Anabella was a driving force behind the mansion and its gardens, which have been expanded with loving care since her passing.

Rose Garden: Like many who grew up in the Victorian age (1837-1901), Anabella Huntington loved classical gardens with Mediterranean influences. Today, her imprint is shown in the rose garden next to the mansion, with its Greek/Italian statuary, circular cupola supported with classical Ionic columns, and white limestone walkways.

Victorian rose gardens featured symmetrical designs, formal paths with borders defined by box hedges, rows of roses, decorative ironwork, bold colors, and fragrant plants. The Huntington rose garden features a central arched iron trellis bordered by box hedges behind which are row upon row of mature roses in every color imaginable. On a balmy Fall day, the scent of roses and wisteria filled the air and soothed our souls.

Expanded and redefined after Anabella and Henry Huntington’s passing, the garden is now international, with Chinese, Japanese, Tropical, and Cactus Gardens flourishing in different areas of the 120 acres.

 

 

 

Chinese Garden: To fully enjoy Huntington’s Chinese Garden, we visited it early in the morning (Morning: here) and then again late, just before the garden closed at 6 PM (Afternoon: at the end of the article). The ambiance, highlights, and views were different each time.

Garden Design: A previous visit to Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa, Japan taught us that classic Chinese gardens, which the Japanese sought to emulate, sought ‘Rakuyo-Meienki’ (outstanding garden design). That respected Chinese design identified six key elements: i) Spaciousness – spacious areas; ii) Artifice – a display of human artistic skills; iii) Watercourses – abundant with streams, ponds, and waterfalls; iv) Seclusion –quiet secluded areas; v) Antiquity –feeling nature from ancient times using aged trees; vi) Panoramas – commanding fine views.

Morning: Daylight peaking over the San Gabriel mountains created shadows around the garden’s large central reflecting pond. Going early, before the crowds, gave us unfettered scenic views without having to dodge fellow visitors.  We enjoyed the many Rakuyo elements of this truly outstanding garden during our early morning stroll, and this was just the first of many experiences to follow.

Japanese Garden: Leaving the Chinese Garden, we navigated a path lined with bamboo next to a steep rocky waterfall streaming into a verdant valley below. Next, we arrived at the top of the Japanese Garden valley. The Japanese borrowed the Rakuyo-Meienki design concepts from the Chinese, redefined those garden features, and adapted them to make them their own.

Designed for the senses: Japanese garden designs seek order and serenity with a philosophy that avoids artificiality while creatively highlighting nature. Plants and worn, aged materials are often used to remind the viewer of the fragile nature of existence and the inevitable advance of time. Loosely translated, wabi is transient. stark beauty with sabi  expressing the beauty of natural patina and aging, while yūgen is the net wabi-sabi result achieved with grace and subtlety.

Looking contemplatively at the weathered Japanese tea house sitting atop the rolling grassy, lush hillside dotted with ancient, immaculately trimmed trees, above streams and ponds edged with perfectly placed large irregular stones, reminded me of the grace and subtlety of yūgen that I was witnessing firsthand.

Cactus Garden: The thorny part of our garden tour was our next stop in the large cactus garden. Here we saw more desert Golden Barrel Cactus, (Echinocactus grusonii, endemic to the Southwest US deserts and Mexico), than in any previous botanical garden we have visited, including ones in Arizona, New Mexico, California and Mexico. A botanical garden in San Miguel de Allende taught us that these golden barrel cacti were once numerous in the Mexican highlands, but are now endangered because so many have been removed for landscaping and eating by livestock and humans.

With 127 genera and 1750 known species ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cactus ), it was challenging to identify possible rare and endangered cactus species. Suffice it to say that everything, endangered and not, was flourishing and well cared for. As lovers of the desert landscape, we found the visual spectacle of yuccas, barrel cacti, columnar cacti, and succulents of all manner, shape, and form, delightful.

After our tour, we headed to the 1919-Café by the entrance and picked up some wonderful veggie wraps for a light repast. Realizing we still had an hour before closing, we returned to the Chinese Garden for one last look and were glad we did.

Chinese Garden- Late Afternoon: Returning late in the afternoon gave us different feelings than in the morning (above). With the setting sun warming the water in its golden glow, the reflections cast exquisitely different visions than those we encountered in the morning.

 

The Penjing Sculpture Garden: Penjing, also known as penzai, is the Chinese art form that gave rise to Japanese bonsai. A stunning new addition to the upper Chinese Garden highlights the Chinese art of forming trees in miniature and large. Here, the trees were set off in sculpted surroundings with view-window walls and gates to create entrancing views for the inquisitive, saying, ‘Come in and view more’—to which we eagerly responded.

 

One Last Look: With our fly-in-fly-out trip nearly over, we had one last chance to enjoy the exquisite Chinese Garden on our way out at closing time.

Reflecting, it was a very full day. Full of solace to calm our turmoil. Mother Nature comforted, nourished, embraced our spirits, and rejuvenated our souls.

IF YOU GO: Be sure to take comfortable walking shoes and water. Refreshments are not provided in the greater garden areas but only in the coffee shop and the café at the entrance. We enjoyed our repast at the Huntington Library and Garden’s 1919 Café. We flew into LAX using miles, but Burbank Airport might also be convenient. Our tour guides, Jackson and Peter of the Los Angeles Center for Photography, enhanced our experience.