Descanso Gardens- La Cañada Flintridge, California

Name of Garden:
Descanso Gardens

History and Description:
A natural "bowl" in the San Rafael hills provides a secluded setting for Descanso Gardens. The first inhabitants of the area were the Los Angeles basin's Gabrielino Indians. They relied on the native oaks for the mainstay of their diet, pounding acorns into meal for mush and bread.

However the 160 acres that form Descanso Gardens today, had never been developed when E. Manchester Boddy, publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News , purchased them in 1937.

Boddy cleared the land and built an elegant two-story mansion of 22 rooms, designed by architect J. E. Dolena of Beverly Hills. This mansion overlooks 25 acres of live oak forest and a camellia-lined driveway. The Boddy House, used today as an art gallery , is open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Boddy named his estate "Rancho del Descanso," which means "rest" or "repose" in Spanish. He also purchased an additional 440 acres north of the original property, whose mountain streams provide fresh spring water for the Gardens today.

Before the area was opened to the public as Descanso Gardens the land was an oak forest. In the late 1930s and 1940s, when newspaper publisher E. Manchester Boddy was building his estate called Rancho del Descanso, he planted thousands of camellias in the shade of the oaks to provide blossoms for the cut-flower industry. Those camellias, and others added in later years, continue to thrive.

Today Descanso Gardens is home to North America's largest camellia collection-more than 34,000 plants and more than 700 species and varieties growing on 20 acres. Many of these camellias are more than 20 feet in height. The Camellia Forest boasts rare and familiar camellias and has been designated an International Camellia Garden of Excellence by the International Camellia Society.

Location:
Descanso Gardens is located near the intersection of the 210 and 2 freeways. It is a short 20-minute drive from downtown Los Angeles.

Descanso Gardens,
1418 Descanso Drive,
La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011

Tel: 818.949.4200

Hours:
The Gardens are open every day of the year except Christmas, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (although visitors are encouraged to arrive by 4:30 p.m.) Free Parking.

Admission:
General $7. Senior/Students $5. Children (5 to 12 years) $2.
Guild members and Children under 5 free.
Tram $3. Enchanted Railroad $2 (Saturdays and Sundays)