Best Botanical Garden Pasadena Near Me

4worldlovers: All visitors who are not members must purchase a ticket to visit.

Enjoy complimentary daytime admission to the garden 364 days a year when you become a member of Descanso. Members enjoy many benefits, including discounts at the Gift Shop, class discounts and members-only events.

Art meets nature meets individual action in Living in a Wildlife Corridor. Blending art, science, and the best of community conservation efforts, don't miss Living in a Wildlife Corridor at the Boddy House from now–Oct. 1.

There's always something to see at Descanso Gardens. Whether you love lots of colorful spring blooms, winter camellias or the year-round majesty of our oaks, check out what's in bloom at different times of the year.

From colorful native flowers to beautiful scenery, Descanso is the perfect spring destination. Explore the many paths and trails through verdant, lush landscapes to enjoy the best of the season.

4worldlovers: For over a century, the historic Japanese Garden has been one of the most beloved and iconic landscapes at The Huntington, with its distinctive moon bridge, picture-postcard views of koi-filled ponds and the historic Japanese House. One of the most popular spots at The Huntington, the Japanese Garden has attracted millions of visitors and remains a site of both fascination and contemplation.

Elements of this five-room house were created in Japan and shipped to Pasadena around 1904 for a commercial garden. Acquired by Henry E. Huntington in 1911, the structure is composed of several Japanese woods, with paneled doors to the outside that can be left open or closed to allow inhabitants to enjoy the gardens around them. Inner walls can easily be moved to increase room size or privacy. During a 2011 renovation, original architectural features were discovered, such as the distinctive curves of the roof line and original plaster and wood finishes. Restored, today the structure is considered one of the best examples of early twentieth-century Japanese architecture in the United States.

The ceremonial teahouse, called Seifu-an (the Arbor of Pure Breeze), was built in Kyoto in the 1960s and donated to The Huntington by the Pasadena Buddhist Temple. In 2010, the teahouse made a return trip to Japan for restoration, overseen by Kyoto-based architect Yoshiaki Nakamura (whose father built the original structure). It was then shipped back to San Marino and painstakingly reassembled. The teahouse location within a traditionally landscaped tea garden atop a picturesque ridge provides a stunning setting for demonstrations of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. (Unlike the tea shop in the Chinese Garden or the Rose Garden Tea Room, it does not serve refreshments.)

In 1968, The Huntington expanded the Japanese Garden to include a bonsai collection and zen court, where displays are rotated throughout the year to highlight seasonal features. Since 1990, The Huntington has served as the Southern California site for the Golden State Bonsai Federation and trees in the collection now number in the hundreds.

In the Harry Hirao Suiseki Court, visitors are invited to touch the suiseki or viewing stones, an ancient Japanese art form, while the Zen Court provides an example of the contained landscapes that once evolved in the temple gardens of Japan. Patterns raked into gravel, rock formations, and shrubbery are used to symbolize water, space, movement, and other abstract ideas.

The nine-acre Japanese Garden, completed in 1912, was inspired by widespread Western fascination with Asian culture. As was fashionable at the time, many wealthy Americans and Europeans added exotic gardens to their estates. The Japanese gardens exhibited at world’s fairs and expositions in St. Louis, Chicago, and San Francisco helped to fuel the trend. Henry E. Huntington decided to build his own Japanese garden on his San Marino estate, and acquired many of the garden’s plants and ornamental fixtures from a property in nearby Pasadena that had failed as a commercial venture. Purchased in its entirety by Huntington, the materials also included the Japanese House. The moon bridge, commissioned by Huntington, was built by Japanese craftsman Toichiro Kawai. By the advent of World War II, staffing shortages and the political climate caused the Japanese Garden to be neglected, with parts of it inaccessible to the public, and the Japanese House fell into disrepair. In the 1950s, members of the San Marino League helped support the refurbishment of the buildings and surrounding landscape.

4worldlovers: We are happy to welcome visitors to the garden on Friday and Saturday evenings and during the day on Sundays. Visit Events At A Glance for hours, admission fees and visitor guidelines.


Welcome to the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden. Hidden in the heart of Pasadena, this historic jewel, that was once reserved for the enjoyment of an aristocratic Pasadena couple, has been re-imagined as a space to be shared.

Conceived in the 1930s as a private estate garden, and hidden from view for decades, a historic restoration brings new purpose to this place of special beauty.

Something for the garden lovers in your life. Gift certificates for admission to Open Day. $12.00 each, $24.00 for two or treat an entire family.

Please visit our Getting Here page for information and maps, including local streets, freeways and available public transportation options.