The Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, may well be the most luxuriant landscape on earth. Founded in 1919 by railroad and real estate developer Henry Edwards Huntington, the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, an educational and cultural center, was opened to the public in 1928. The estate is 206 acres, more than half of which are devoted to 15 theme gardens filled with 20,000 varieties of plants. Among the specialized gardens are ones for camellias, roses, herbs, water lilies, palms, bamboo, cacti, and cycads. There's a Japanese garden and an Australian, subtropical, jungle, and Shakespeare garden. Included are a brief but engaging history of the gardens, a discussion of the many trees (some of them rare), and a chapter on the gardens' sculptures and fountains. Houk's lively text is augmented by 225 lavish photographs in full color.
George Cohen
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From the Inside Flap
PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION: "An armchair expedition through one of Southern California's greatest public gardens.... An outstanding tribute."--
The Southern California Gardener "[The Huntington Botanical Gardens are] arguably the finest extant example of Southern California's golden age of horticulture, a period that lasted from the late 19th century through the 1920s."--
Horticulture "In page after page of color photographs by Don Normark, the history of the garden and essays on the theme gardens and special collections come to vivid life. Normark is particularly adept at capturing the moods of the various landscapes, from the serene Japanese Garden to the prickly Desert Garden, which holds the world's largest collection of cactuses."--
San Diego Union-Tribune
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