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 Easter
Sunday, and it felt like a sin to try to work. It was 70 degrees
outside, the sun was shining, the sky was blue as an Easter egg. So I
picked the lock on the shackles chaining me to the computer (I’m past
deadline on my newest book), grabbed Lee, and we jumped in the car and
set out for the Descanso
Gardens, in La
Cañada\Flintridge, about 15 miles from our home. I punched in the
address and let my new GPS unit ponder the quickest route that stayed
off the freeway. I’ve set this device to speak with an English accent,
which is fun, because the British lady mispronounces many of the Los
Angeles street names. You should hear her struggle with Verdugo Road.
 The
150 acres that are now the Descanso Gardens was originally the Rancho de
Descanso, which translates as “The Ranch of Rest.” It was bought by
newspaper magnate
E. Manchester
Boddy in 1937, and he built a 22-room mansion on a hilltop. The
mansion is still there, and I’d love to live in it. According to the
historical material decorating the walls in some of the rooms, Boddy
purchased tens of thousands of
camellia plants from
a Japanese-American horticulturist in 1942, when our idiot government
was rounding up Japanese families. But he wasn’t stealing from them, as
so many whites did when the internees were forced to sell everything
they owned in a few days. He held onto the plants and sold them back
when the family got out of the
concentration camp. And he became a horticultural enthusiast, and a
leading authority on the camellia.
 Today,
they don’t have camellia gardens at Descanso, they have camellia
forests. They go on for what seems like miles, and on Easter Sunday they
were bursting with blooms. The pathways under the towering trees were
lined with millions of orange flowers.
 The
ladies at the information table told us these were
Clivia miniata,
a relative of the
amaryllis, native to South Africa, usually called the Bush Lily, or
the Kaffir Lily. (I believe that kaffir is the Afrikaans word for
“nigger.” Oh, well.) These plants thrive and blossom in the shade, which
is why they were planted there, I guess. It was a glorious sight.
 The
formal paths were lined with all manner of exotic tulips, all blooming.
It was a bit early for the extensive rose garden, and the smaller lily
garden, but the lilacs were lovely. Oddly, they had no odor. The ladies
at the info table claim that’s because in Los Angeles, it never freezes.
Cross the
San Gabriel Mountains to
Lancaster, where it does freeze, and the lilacs smell. How odd.
 Last time we were there the Enchanted Railroad wasn’t running, but today
it was,
 so
we had to ride. The grounds were full of young ladies in their Easter
dresses, the younger ones wearing bunny ears. They were having an Easter
buffet in the Rose Garden. I’d seen it mentioned online, and knew it was
costing the diners $45 each. Yikes! Obviously, there are still some
people not affected by the recession.
It
was a lovely way to spend the holiday.
April 14, 2009
Hollywood, California |
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