Huntington Museum and Gardens

Since moving to Pasadena, I've had every intention of visiting the Huntington Gardens because they are only a 5 minute drive from my house and I've heard nothing but rave reviews. Thankfully I saved this event for when my parents came to stay with us. It turned out to be the perfect answer to "What should I do when my parents are here?" And as a bonus, it was Mothers Day weekend.

Not much to say, so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Photography is not one of my hobbies, nor one of my strong suits, but there were so many beautiful sites that I couldn't help but be inspired.

Here's the conservatory. Inside was a rain forest garden, cloud forest garden, a bog and a plant lab.

Moving on, we stumbled our way towards the Chinese Garden. I use the word stumble because even with the help of signs and a map, it's actually really hard to figure out exactly where you're going. Or to know, for sure, when you've arrived.

Well, then I saw this and I figured we were there.

I was particularly fond of the enormous koi fish swimming throughout the pond.

Koi at Huntington Gardens, Pasadena from Briana Mahoney on Vimeo.

I could've watched them for hours.

Quick story: this video was taken from a vantage point of a flat rock about 4 inches off the ground. While I quietly observed the fish, a pair of children to my right prodded them with sticks. After a few moments, a museum guard wearing a uniform reminiscent of the Maytag repairman walked over and asked me to get down from the rock. Never one to make a fuss, I rolled my eyes and began to walk away. Thankfully, Devin said precisely what I was thinking. "So she can't stand on that rock, but it's okay for kids to poke the fish with sticks?" The guard turned his attention to the kids and offered a half-hearted, "Oh yeah, stop poking the fish."

Peh.

Next we drifted over to the Japanese Gardens.

And then found the Rose Garden. For reasons I have yet to discern, Pasadena is just wild about roses. So it's only fitting that they have like 5 billion roses in this garden.

Each variety of rose had its own clever name. I liked this one best.

Here I am, posing with my own Sexy Rexy.

Lastly, we hurried through the Australian Garden (having just returned from a 3 week trip to Australia, my parents were not overly interested in the re-creation of this particular habitat), and then to the Desert Garden.

The Desert Garden was as interesting as it was massive.

I didn't really get to spend a lot of time closely examining the plants, and I'd really like to take the free tour on my next visit. Additionally, there were at least 5 museum buildings I didn't even step inside. Certainly I'll have to make a second trip... and maybe a third... and a fourth.