You no doubt clicked here to see WHICH of the hundreds (if not thousands) of botanical gardens around the world I call a "gem". Not to beat around the shrub: it's "https://arboretum.org/" (or perhaps somewhat more discursively or at least more verbosely, The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden--which is printed in tiny letters under their attractive logo. Trimming that to just "The Arboretum" (how clever of someone on their staff to have commandeered that URL!) is perfect. Which adjective come to think of it sums up my visit to the place on December 27, 2025. It was just about as perfect a garden as I've ever visited.
With the Huntington's desert garden looming a few miles away, they tread rather gently over the succulent realm. One of the many themes this garden adumbrates in my mind is how incredibly elegantly the Arboretum and the Huntington complement one another. I have been privileged to be friends with key staff at both institutions for more decades than I care to admit to: I know they share deep professional and personal friendships between staff at the two institutions exemplifying unique synergy.
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| Aloe marlothii in full glory |
That said, succulents of all kinds feature throughout the Arboretum--employed differently than the Desert Garden nearby, but just as effectively. There is an extensive African Garden, for instance, where succulents are prominent--but other woody plants, herbaceous and especially root succulents (bulbs) are combined to display a more representative selection from the continent's flora. The geographic gardens--especially the Australian and Canary Island collections, are extensive and unique.
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| Aloidendron (Aloe) dichotomum |
Seeing this
kokerboom jolted me back to Namaqualand where I have wandered through forests of these!
There is a fine assemblage of American succulents near the entrance.
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| Bismarckia nobilis |
The unmistakable windmill foliage of Bismarck palm signals the approach of one of my favorite gardens at the Arboretum: Madagascar!
What amazes me at all the Arboretum's gardens is how fresh and crisp the hardscape is, and how weed free the entire place is. Of course, in the mild sub-tropical climate, it's not surprising at how lush and healthy plants appear. Especially since the month or two before I visited they'd had record rains!
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| Kalanchoe marneriana |
Not many places can grow broad sweeps of plants like this wonderful endemic succulent of Madagascar..
Fun to see these in full glory!
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| Alluaudia procera |
Madagascar's answer to Ocotillo, the many clumps of
Alluaudia throughout the garden inspire real envy in us condemned to live in severe winter climates!
Yet another view of the Kalanchoe
You really can't have enough of something his good!
You might be getting a sense of how impressed I was with the
Alluadia!
One last view of this amazing plant in the Didiereaceae: as a totally irrelevant aside--one of Denver Botanic Gardens very best Landscape Architects who has designed many of our best gardens is
Emmanuel Didier: I have been curious for years and keep forgetting to ask him if he's related to the eponymous botanist! (Do click on his name to see the stunning website of his Studio--surely the best in class L.A. studio for public gardens in America today.
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| Kalanchoe beharensis 'Nudum' |
I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the gigantic felted Crassulaceae of Madagascar: so hard to imagine these as outdoor plants!
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| Pachypodium lemerei |
A fine specimen of a clubfoot: a genus that often has as interesting and beautiful of flowers as it has dramatic form.
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| Didierea madagascariensis |
And an impossibly spiny specimen of a succulent cousin of
Alluaudia.
And a stately specimen of
Pachypodium geayi--another Madagascar classic.
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| Uncarina decaryi |
A few months too early to see the wonderful orangy-yellow flowers on the mousetrap plant. Its flowers and foliage always remind me somewhat of Fremontodendron--although they belong to altogether different families and continents (Pedaliaceae vs. Malvaceae for the Californian). But what a trunk!
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| Euphorbia milii |
And a parting glimpse with one of the innumerable crown of thorns shrubs--one of Madagascar's greatest gifts to horticulture...
Walking a bit further North you come to a veritable forest of Queensland bottle trees--the beginning of several acres of Australian marvels, then Canary Islands, Africa--and that's only a small portion of the Arboretum: there are no end of gardens featuring California natives, Mediterranean natives and vast lawns with fountains and elegant hardscape where you can marvel at the San Gabriel Mountains that seem to loom over the garden in many lights. I have been privileged to visit the Arboretum in many seasons over many decades. It's about time I shared a glimpse of one of America's National treasuires.
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| Jim Henrich |
Great gardens don't just happen. The Arboretum has a long and glorious history--and I've been lucky to know several of its finest players. Jim Henrich has an extraordinary track record of accomplishment. I first met him in 1992 when he oversaw the horticulture at Missouri Botanic Gardens on my very first visit to that great garden (in April, I recall, with magnolias blooming prolifically everywhere and their astonishing bulb garden at early peak). Little did I know he would be hired as director of Horticulture in Denver shortly thereafter where he was my boss--one of the best in the business. He was supportive of myself--of all staff who answered to him--and a punctilious professional who was also friendly and approachable. He was instrumental in the creation of Plant Select--Denver Botanic Gardens' plant research and introduction program co-managed with Colorado State University and the Green Industry. He in fact edited
Durable Plants for the Garden*--the account of the first ten years of the program (the only book I've ever been part of where I've never found a solecism of any kind--did I mention he's a perfectionist?). Jim went on to manage the re-construction of the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco. He didn't tell me, but it is rumored this 20+ million dollar project came in under budget and well ahead of schedule: I wouldn't doubt that for a minute. And since then he's been Curator of Living Collections at the Arboretum. I have never met Tim Phillips--Superintendent of the Arboretum's grounds, but I have no doubt that the dynamic partnership of these two extraordinary professionals is responsible for elevating the Arboretum to have become one of the finest public gardens anywhere. I am pretty obviously dedicating this post to Jim, whose leadership and friendship over the last 3 decades has been an inspiration to myself and countless others in our field. What a treat to have lunch with him a few weeks ago--as well as Paul Martin and Susan Eubank--who deserve their own tributes and blog posts--come to think of it.
*You can still obtain this book secondhand, although the reprehensible publisher did a pitiful job of marketing it: I think it's just about the most beautifully designed, illustrated and truly novel book full of solid information and not just a rehash of cliches like so many conventional tomes. I have watched the price gradually rise on book websites: it's an overlooked classic. Truth in advertising: I did write many of the plant descriptions (as did others) and part of the introduction. But it's really Jim's book.
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