Purdy Flowers

Even growing up in the area, I still am constantly surprised by the little hidden gems that I find. Yesterday, my friend Clark and I decided to check out one such gem called the South Coast Botanic Garden located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Following the directions I'd printed, we drove along Pacific Coast Highway through some of the sketchy parts of LA County, eventually turning onto a long road called Palos Verdes North. The road wound up through the hills, passing ranches, horse runs and large mansion-like homes hiding behind trees. We only made a wrong turn once, thanks to an intersection where five streets met, but eventually found our way to the mostly empty parking lot of the garden.

The area of the garden first started as an open-pit mine until the late 1950s when the land was sold to LA County. They turned it into a landfill. Then, in 1961, a group of citizens petitioned the county to change it into a botanic garden. Neither of us was quite sure what to expect as we passed into the first area modeled after Japanese-style gardens. We meandered along the koi pond, through a garden of twenty to thirty variety of fuschia, and into a children's garden filled with fairy tale creatures and brightly colored blooms to attract birds and butterflies. On the other side of that garden, we discovered immense patches of grass, sprinkled with benches and an occasional gazebo; a rose garden; a lake; a cactus garden; and so much more. We wandered the grounds, marveling at everything from Norfolk Pines to Hong Kong Orchid Trees to magnolias to white, pink and rose-colored cherry blossoms, and I happily snapped picture after picture.

We heard dozens of different bird calls, spied a few lizards scrambling through the ground cover, watch large orange and black butterflies flitting from flower to flower. I even managed to snap a picture of just one of the many large black Carpenter Bees that seemed to take a fancy to the purplish blooms. A few times, we met other visitors sitting on benches to enjoy the view or striding along the trails for exercise. It had to be one of the most peaceful and serene places in all of LA County that I couldn't believe we'd wandered the grounds for two hours. And I'll wager we didn't see everything.

I can't wait to return!