The Gardens of Huntington Library
Previously, I blogged about the Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library. The thing is that the Japanese Garden isn’t the only garden on the grounds of the Huntington Library. It just happens to be one of the more massive gardens. So, today, I’m going to blog about the other gardens from the Rose Garden to the Desert.
The Rose Garden had a lot of traffic. It made sense since there were many beautiful roses in bloom and these roses were very fragrant. For people obsessed with instagram or any other similar app, this was the place to be. And because this was the place to be for so many people, I’m not sure how I feel about the rose garden. It was beautiful but I couldn’t enjoy the garden as much as I wanted to since there were just so many vain people here. It was so bad that I even had a rude lady practically bump into me just because she wanted the most “perfect” photo of the many photos she had already taken of her young adult daughter. I don’t want to make any assumptions but I couldn’t help but to assume that the daughter was an Instagram influencer and Mom was helping her make bank (real dough or shallow dough – likes). I know this is typical of SoCal culture but I found it severely cringey and would recommend anyone visiting the Huntington Library to visit the rose garden before it gets crowded so that you can truly enjoy the ambiance without interruptions that have to do with social media in some way or another.
This area happens to also be home to the Rose Garden Tea Room which I all of a sudden wanted to give a try when it was almost closing. I’m glad they weren’t accepting any more people when I popped in to inquire because I just learned that it’s a very pricey place to dine at. It does seem like a nice place to relax, eat, drink (tea) and enjoy the flowers. Not sure if the estimated expense of $75 would be worth it in addition to the admission price to the Huntington Library, though. I honestly want to give this place a try one day but I have a feeling I’d be hesitant to splurge on finger food, desserts and tea regardless of the level of service and taste of the items offered. I must say the people I saw dining in the patio of the Rose Garden Tea Room looked genuinely happy and if money can buy happiness, maybe this is the place where it can be bought? Lol
Not far from the rose garden is an area with Greek statues and an impressive Baroque fountain. I don’t think this area has a name but it’s adjacent to the Camelia Garden. It’s an open space and I really liked how it allowed you to feel like you weren’t in California anymore.
The desert is in a completely different area but is vast and amazing in that I encountered a good amount of wildlife here. Black bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, squirrels, birds and even a hawk. The baby squirrels were the highlight of my time in the desert.
The lily ponds garden was very green. The interesting thing about this area is that there were actually koi fish in the ponds. And the koi here may actually be more pretty than the ones at the Japanese garden. It’s a good place to be at since it fits the image of “greenery” so well and it’s not as crowded of a place, although there may be limited areas to linger around in when people are already hanging out and about in the area.
The Shakespeare Garden can be mistaken to be a part of the rose garden since they are next to each other but it’s actually its own garden. It’s a colorful garden that’s small in comparison to the rose garden but very charming, uplifting and best of all, not a crowded spot.
As mentioned in my prior blog post, the Chinese Garden is adjacent to the Japanese Garden and is a place where you can get food and drinks. If you’re on a budget, this is probably the most reasonable place to come and get a bite.
There’s also a Children’s Garden that I will be blogging about next time. In the meantime, check out my video on the other gardens of the Huntington Library!