26 awe-inspiring gardens in Southern California you must visit at least once
The gardens around the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Exposition Park are a triple treat — especially during the milder temperatures of spring and fall. At the entrance a living wall of giant sandstone splinters curves into the garden, acting as fence and planter. The top is filled with succulents, Mediterranean-climate plants and many California native flowers, perennials and shrubs, and the sides are laced with more plants sprouting from the rocks, providing homes to insects and lizards.
The 3.5 acre garden opened in 2013, and one of its primary goals was to provide habitat for urban wildlife, especially birds and pollinators. The Sarah Meeker Jensen Pond is alive with thirsty birds, dragonflies and even Arroyo chub, the little native fish that once thrived in the Los Angeles River. There's also a small 'urban waterfall,' and a broad shallow creek where children can wade on hot days and a wildlife viewing platform for birds and other creatures, dotted with feeders, bee 'hotels' and plenty of nectar providing flowers.
Further in, you'll find the Erika J. Glazer Family Edible Garden, where beautifully tended raised beds grow a large assortment of delicious-looking produce. If your children (or you) aren't sure where vegetables come from, here's a chance to discover up close how plant food is grown.
The museum offers guided tours of the garden (free with museum admission) from 11 a.m. to noon most Saturdays and Sundays, and there's a 'Get Dirty Garden,' where children can balance on a path of logs and tree stumps, search for insects in compost piles and explore a house made from willow branches.
Finally, next door to the nature gardens outside the California Science Center is the the Exposition Park Rose Garden, billed as the country's largest when it opened in 1927, according to a PBS report. It opened with more than 100 species of roses and by 1949, reportedly boasted 150 species and some 15,000 roses in all. It's still an awe-inspiring sight, but you'll want to visit after April when the roses start blooming, because the pruning in the winter leaves the bushes bare.
Admission: Visitors can tour the Nature Gardens with a ticket to the Natural History Museum; $18, or $14 for seniors 62+ and students with ID, ages 13-17, $7 for ages 3-12 and free for members and children under 2. Los Angeles County residents can also visit the museum for free Mondays through Fridays between 3 and 5 p.m. Admission to the Exposition Park Rose Garden is free.
Hours: Open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except the first Tuesday of every month, Jan. 1, July 4, Thanksgiving day and Dec. 25. Exposition Park. Rose Garden is open daily, 8:30 a.m. to dusk.
Food: You can purchase food at the Natural History Museum and the California Science Center next door.
Other: Restrooms are available at the museum. The gardens are wheelchair-accessible and visitors can borrow wheelchairs from the museum on a first-come, first-served basis.
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