LA Sunday – Huntington Gardens 2 of 3

After marveling at the beautiful blooms in the Huntington Rose Garden, we passed the pair of Lion-Dogs guarding the entrance to the Huntington Japanese Garden. Where the Rose Garden was a riot of color and exuberant blooms, the Japanese Garden is a 9 acre canyon of green calm. The Japanese Garden was begun in 1911, and the mature plantings reflect the age. As you descend under the wisteria arbor, your first view is of the Japanese house on the far side of the gully.Closer in the foreground is a Japanese half-moon bridge, over a koi pond. Too bad for us, the koi pond and stream were undergoing renovation. However, the image of peace is persistent, despite the missing water. Traversing the gully to reach the Japanese house, you take time to notice the details like the Buddhas bordering the stream bed, or the lion head adorning the ridge-line of the bell house.





Once past the bridge and back up the hill, the 19th-century Japanese house offers a small vignette to reinforce the feeling of calm. Although not a tea house, it does have the set-up for a ceremony. It is filled with shoji, alcoves for display, and straw floor mats. Again, the details are what make the place special. The end-caps of the support beams are carved with floral scrolls and a lotus blossom perched atop what looks like a koi tail hugs the roof line.



We continued down a zigzag bridge through a stand of bamboo. The zigzag path is thought to confuse evil spirits who only travel in straight lines. The pathway led to a walled-in Zen rock garden, or karesansui. This dry landscape garden was added in 1968. The ginko trees were mature and beautiful in their greenness. Too many people, however, did not allow for the meditative factor that such a garden normally brings.

The Zen garden opens to a courtyard filled with Bonsai. There, various members of the local societies had either donated or were caring for a large number of bonsai trees. This juniper (could be a cypress, I'm not sure) is one of my favorites. They also had bonsai pomegranate and grape vines, complete with fruit.





Some of the details that I'd like to remember for when I get the urge to finally do something about my yard. I love the half-moon bridge and willow, but I like the zigzag path/bridge through the bamboo more. The rock wall that held back the hillside from the stone stream consisted of a variety of black granite slabs, some were smooth polish, some were rough cut, and some looked like leftovers. It was interesting in that it had texture, but it was calming in that it was of a consistent material.


Also, this "river" of mondo grass that wandered from the path outside the bonsai courtyard and down into the more native garden. It was placed under the oak trees and had large rocks bordering the curves so it seemed to flow naturally down the hill. It was also bordered by hostas, nandinas, azaleas, rhodes, and lilies. Although very green in the heat of the summer, I cannot begin to imagine what it would look like in the spring. I really think this would be awesome on my uphill yard. Assuming of course, that I could convince the deer not to eat it, and the moles not pillage it.