Descanso Gardens

Santa Claus made a special trip to Descanso Gardens last weekend especially to enjoy breakfast with children and their family members. The Patina Restaurant Group, Descanso Gardens' catering partner, prepared a brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday morning that included a sweet potato marshmallow dish, cherry glazed baked ham, scrambled eggs, strawberry almond crepes and hash brown potatoes. Jazz Mondé, a catering partner with Patina, said that about 40 children attended the festivities.

Descanso Gardens in La Cañada-Flintridge has reopened after closing due to wind damage, but two county parks remained closed. High winds wreaked havoc on Los Angeles County's parks last week, leaving some still littered with fallen trees Monday. Descanso Gardens will be open with limited hours and access at least through Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Continue reading> > -- Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times Photo: Descanso Gardens in La Ca ñ ada-Flintridge in 2009.

A forced three-day closure due to damage caused by the Nov. 30 windstorm resulted in a $30,000 loss in revenue to Descanso Gardens, officials there announced Tuesday. The facility, which suffered the loss of six trees, several uprooted plants and damaged irrigation systems, was closed Dec. 1-Dec. 3 due to the clean-up that was required, as well as to an extended power outage. “Fortunately, Descanso Gardens largely escaped serious damage and loss from the windstorm event, re-opening to the community Sunday morning, December 4, with partial power.

Descanso Gardens really dresses up for spring, with thousands of vibrant flowers and trees blooming through weeks and months. The season will begin this year with daffodils and the exhibit by the Southern California Daffodil Society. The following events are scheduled at Descanso Gardens through March 11. Unless noted, events are free with Gardens admission. All fees include Gardens admission. Thursday, March 8 ? Flower Confidential?7 to 9 p.m. There is more to a bouquet of cut flowers than its ability to beautify a room, and author Amy Stewart knows the ins and outs of the extraordinary business of flowers.

Fall in Southern California is sometimes a bit hard to find with our warm temperatures, flowering plants and the abundance of evergreen trees, but for those seeking out a bit of fall, Descanso Gardens is the place to be as it readies for the season with its Lollapalooza at PumpkinPalooza event to be held Oct. 27-28. “PumpkinPalooza is sure to grab the imagination of children and adults alike,” said Public Relations Manager Mary Ellen Walker. “Descanso Gardens will be filled with pumpkins as well as activities for all ages.

As a reward for being named La Cañadan of the Year, Terry Walker received plenty of praise Wednesday afternoon - even if she had to withstand a bit of ribbing on the way. More than 100 people came to the La Cañada Kiwanis Club's tribute to Walker at Descanso Gardens, including four City Council members, Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Capt. David Silversparre and Walker's parents, who were celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. Walker, whose accomplishments include three years as president of the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce, launching the weekly farmers market, adding snow and reindeer to the Festival in Lights, and helping at her husband Woody's pet clinic, knew she was in for a roast.

The usually bucolic Descanso Gardens underwent a spell Saturday, transforming into a one-day wonderland of children's laughter, trains, damask fairy wings and rich, exotic teas. But through it all, the reason for the gathering was not forgotten, as thousands of white, pink and red blossoms took center stage at the garden's annual Camellia Festival. More than 200 varieties of the sturdy winter plant were on display throughout the 160-acre garden, and those who took part in the walking tour and lecture had a chance to learn the history of how the flowering trees and shrubs came to reside there, and to see up close new hybridizations.

A forced three-day closure due to damage caused by the Nov. 30 windstorm resulted in a $30,000 loss in revenue to Descanso Gardens, officials there announced Tuesday. The facility, which suffered the loss of six trees, several uprooted plants and damaged irrigation systems, was closed Dec. 1-Dec. 3 due to the clean-up that was required, as well as to an extended power outage. “Fortunately, Descanso Gardens largely escaped serious damage and loss from the windstorm event, re-opening to the community Sunday morning, December 4, with partial power.

Santa Claus made a special trip to Descanso Gardens last weekend especially to enjoy breakfast with children and their family members. The Patina Restaurant Group, Descanso Gardens' catering partner, prepared a brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday morning that included a sweet potato marshmallow dish, cherry glazed baked ham, scrambled eggs, strawberry almond crepes and hash brown potatoes. Jazz Mondé, a catering partner with Patina, said that about 40 children attended the festivities.

Descanso Gardens in La Cañada-Flintridge has reopened after closing due to wind damage, but two county parks remained closed. High winds wreaked havoc on Los Angeles County's parks last week, leaving some still littered with fallen trees Monday. Descanso Gardens will be open with limited hours and access at least through Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Continue reading> > -- Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times Photo: Descanso Gardens in La Ca ñ ada-Flintridge in 2009.

Ten Years Ago An underground electrical wire that was accidentally cut by a construction worker's jackhammer gave La Cañada High School students and faculty a half-day off when the power went out on campus. The accident occurred near the construction site for the new Information Resource Center.   Twenty Years Ago La Cañada resident Donald Miralle, who had been accused of strangling his wife Tessie and burning her body in the desert near Victorville in September 1990, was acquitted of the charges.

Educational and public programs offered throughout the year at Descanso Gardens received a boost Saturday night when nearly 200 supporters from La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, San Marino and other Southland communities donned black-tie apparel for an evening of dinner and dancing at the botanical showplace. “Our education mission is largely supported by the annual benefit and we are so thankful for our steadfast supporters,” stated David R. Brown, executive director of Descanso Gardens, in a news release issued by the Gardens.

My original intent in last week's column was to try to capture the Zen of “The Garden Before the Gardens,” a festival this weekend sponsored by Descanso Gardens. I became enthralled in the history of the Tongva, the earliest inhabitants of the Verdugo foothills. Their connection to the land and the spirit world gives them a sense of place that lingers throughout greater La Cañada. I wanted to tell their story. Tongva settlements called Tujunga, Cahuenga, Cucamonga, Azusa, Pacoima, Hahamongna and Topanga encircled present day La Cañada.

I enjoy the serenity of Descanso Gardens. I go there often and sit on the ground, usually in the oak forest. It puts me closer to the earth. I like to feel the decayed leaves and smell the ancient earth, whose remnants of humus and mold are products of the circle of life, replenishing the very soil I sit upon. I sit with a book and paper and pen and transcend to another dimension as I imagine indigenous peoples, the Tongva, living in the garden before the Gardens. I smell their smoky fires and hear the dull pounding of mortar and pestle as they grind acorns.

After five years of planning, preparation and construction, Descanso Gardens is growing a new attraction. The Sturt Haaga Gallery will open to the public this Saturday at 2 p.m. with the exhibit, “The Botanical Photographs of Andrea Baldeck.” The gallery, funded by a donation of $2.1 million by Paul Haaga Jr. and Heather Sturt Haaga, was created by restoring and adding on to the original garage adjacent to the gardens' historic Boddy House....