As spring blooms burst into color and outdoor spaces come alive with family-friendly events, now is the perfect time to explore Los Angeles’ many gardens. From bountiful farms to plant festivals and art-filled landscapes, here are six lush spots where families can wander, learn and celebrate the season.
Apricot Lane Farms
10700 Broadway Road, Moorpark
What’s better than a Saturday morning on the farm with stories, animals and a fruit-filled orchard? Join the regenerative farm March 14 or April 11 for an hourlong Family Farm Tour or Books & Bagels: Storytime on the Farm, a free Saturday morning series for kids in the garden. It features local authors, book signings, bagels and treats, including Apricot Lane Farms’ honey lemonade.
California Botanic Garden
1500 N. College Ave., Claremont
On March 28, visit California Botanic Garden’s Native Plant Festival. The free, family-friendly annual fest celebrates the Golden State’s biodiversity through crafts, music, story time, food and community resources such as local landscapers and information on wildlands conservation and restoration.
The Huntington
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino
Head over to The Huntington to enjoy stunning plants and family-friendly workshops. On March 21, bring your kids ages 8 and up to Family Workshop: Cactus Books and create one-of-a-kind artist’s books inspired by cacti in the Desert Garden, one of the world’s largest outdoor displays of cacti and other succulents, many of which bloom in spring. Other highlights include the Rose Garden and the Chinese Garden, where the purple canopy of wisteria is always a delight.
South Coast Botanic Garden
26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Estates
Beginning March 1, a Danish art activist transforms South Coast Botanic Garden into a storybook landscape in TROLLS: A Field Study. Guests can wander through the garden’s 87 acres to meet 12 of Dambo’s giant, charismatic trolls made entirely of reclaimed wood. These quirky creatures inspire us to follow our curiosity and embrace our uniqueness, too.
Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden
270 Arlington Drive, Pasadena
First built and designed in the 1930s by Kinzuchi Fujii for a local aristocratic couple, Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden earned a designation as a California Historical Landmark on the California Register of Historic Places in 2005. A great excuse to visit is the 7th Annual Pasadena Festival of Tea on April 12, when guests can enjoy a traditional Japanese tea ceremony in the garden’s formal teahouse. If you can’t make it to the tea festival, visit the garden Friday or Saturday evenings from 4-8 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to enjoy the camellias, azaleas and more seasonal flowers. The garden is always free for children ages 12 and under.
You can add to your garden fix by walking across the street to visit Arlington Garden, an admissions-free, mediterranean-style garden on the same road. Check the calendar for more events.
UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden
707 Tiverton Drive, Los Angeles
Free and open seven days a week, there’s never a bad time to visit UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden, but we recommend taking advantage of its monthly drop-in tours on the first and third Saturdays of the month (open to all ages) and family-specific programming such as Nature Play Day on April 4. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., families are invited to join garden educators for a nature walk, scavenger hunts and workshops on pollinators at work and a carnivorous plant encounter.
Nina Harada is Digital Editor of L.A. Parent.
