Succulents and Cacti at the Huntington Library Gardens
If you're looking for a beautiful garden to tour in Southern California, be sure to stop by the Hunting Library and Gardens. You'll find succulents and cacti galore along with other amazing plants.
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On a recent trip to Southern California I paid a visit to the Huntington Library and Gardens to check out their Desert Garden. I had heard a lot of great things about it, but I was completely blown away.
I easily spent two hours roaming through a huge variety of stunning succulents and cacti. It was so fun to see all of them “in the wild,” as opposed to potted like I'm used to.
When you first walk into the gardens though, you will find a great display of potted succulents. I loved the rainbow of colors in these Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives' and Aloe.
These Sempervivums were huge! At least 6″ across. I love the contrast with the variegated Aloes in the back.
In fact, everything seemed incredibly large to me. It's so different seeing “full grown” succulents instead of just the 2″ or 4″ plants I usually work with.
A major theme throughout the garden was repetition. Since most succulents reproduce easily on their own there were seas of succulents. I loved seeing all the rosettes packed tightly together. The forms and lines they created as a whole were amazing!
Aeonium hybrid Aeonium hybrid
It was also quite common to see succulents growing out of the rock walls. Succulents really can grow anywhere! The colors were enhanced by the stress of growing with little soil and water.
The cacti were definitely putting on a show as well. These barrel cactus seem to be one of the most photographed parts of the Huntington garden. They are even more impressive in person.
This is definitely a garden you can plan a trip around. Like I said earlier, I easily spent two hours just in the Desert Garden, but it is just a small section of the garden. You can also find amazing plants in the other specialty gardens such as the Australian Garden, Chinese Garden, Rose Garden, Subtropical Garden and many more. I can't wait to go back again!