Lifestyle
How to get an inside look at gorgeous private gardens in and around L.A.
With all the recent rain, 2024 is shaping up to be a fabulous year for flowers, not just in the wild but also in private gardens around Southern California. Lucky for garden enviers, many of those gates will be opening wide this spring as part of the annual fundraising tradition known as garden tours.
They come in all shapes and sizes, from the Theodore Payne Foundation’s two-day opportunity to admire more than 30 native plant landscapes across Los Angeles to more intimate events that include just a few exquisite gardens, such as the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days tours in the San Fernando Valley and Pasadena.
These tours will fill weekends through May, so you’ll always find someplace to go, and the entry prices are usually modest — typically less than $40 per person, and sometimes even free, although in those cases, such as the annual open house at Prisk Elementary School’s Native Plant Garden, donations to these worthy causes are greatly appreciated.
Grab a friend, a water bottle and a hat, don good walking shoes and prepare to enjoy all the beauty that follows a good California downpour and the hard work of creative gardeners. If we’ve forgotten someone, please email jeanette.marantos@latimes.com to see if it’s an event we can include.
April 6
Mediterranean Garden Society of Southern California Garden Tour of a private garden in Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood, 10 a.m. to noon. Designers Marilee Kuhlmann, Tom Rau and Johanna Woollcott will be on hand to discuss the 2-acre project, which includes water harvesting, fire prevention, fruit trees, a vegetable garden, native and water-wise plants and a succulent garden. Tickets are $35 ($25 for members). mediterraneangardensociety.org/branches-us-cal-south.html
A Swallowtail butterfly rests on Apricot Mallow at Prisk Native Plant Garden in Long Beach.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
April 7 and 14
The Prisk Native Plant Garden Open House features a free visit to the native plant garden usually closed to the public. From 1 to 4 p.m. both days at William F. Prisk Elementary School, 2375 Fanwood Ave. in Long Beach. The garden is behind the school, at East Los Arcos Street and Albury Avenue. facebook.com/prisknativegarden
An oasis of native plants grows at Raul Rojas and Thomas Zamora’s 1923 Highland Park bungalow, part of the Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual native plant garden tour.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
April 13-14
The Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plant Garden Tour features 41 gardens around Los Angeles devoted to at least 50% native plants. Ticket holders get a map for self-guided tours to gardens on the Westside of L.A. on April 13 and the Eastside on April 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. One ticket gets you into all the gardens on both days and provides an opportunity to see gardens for larger spaces as well as residences, including Kuruvungna Village Springs, Casa Apocalyptica, Garden Butterfly, Washington Elementary Native Habitat Garden and the Gottlieb Native Garden. Participants will receive a map in the mail once they purchase their tickets for $55 (children under 16 do not need tickets). nativeplantgardentour.org
The Frank Lloyd Wright Garden Symposium and L.A. Garden Tours by the Garden Conservancy involves a symposium from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 13 examining how Wright and other early 20th century architects responded to Southern California’s landscape and climate, followed April 14 with guided tours of Wright’s Hollyhock House and Garden in East Hollywood from 10 a.m. to noon and a tour of the Rudolph Schindler House & garden in West Hollywood from 10 a.m. to noon or 2 to 4 p.m. Garden tours are $30 each and reserved only to people who attend the symposium on April 13. Tickets for the symposium at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre are $175 ($150 for members, $50 for students). gardenconservancy.org
April 14
The Creative Arts Group Art of the Garden Tour includes self-guided tours of five gardens in Pasadena and Sierra Madre from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $40, or $45 if purchased the day of the tour. The tour is the biggest annual fundraiser for the nonprofit group, which provides programs, exhibitions and classes in the arts for children and adults. Executive Director Gwen Robertson said the tour strives to include at least one “gobsmacker” estate along with more modest but still inspiring landscapes created by local designers. Photography, pets and children under 12 are not permitted on the tours. The Creative Arts Group Gallery will be open at 108 N. Baldwin Ave. in Sierra Madre for people who want to purchase tickets in person and view work by more than 25 local artists. creativeartsgroup.org
Water-wise desert gardens will be on display at the Morongo Basin Conservation Assn. Desert-Wise Landscape Tour.
(Stacy Doolittle)
April 21
The Morongo Basin Conservation Assn. Desert-Wise Landscape Tour is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event features six self-guided tours of water-wise Morongo Basin landscapes in Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms, along with docent-guided visits to the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Tickets are $15 ($10 for members) and can be purchased online. The website also features videos of “desert-wise” landscapes from past tours. mbconservation.org
The Garden Conservancy Pasadena Open Days Tour invites you to explore three elaborate private gardens at historic homes — the Schumacher Garden Retreat and Bennett-DeBeixedon Garden in Pasadena and the Absacal Family Garden in Altadena. Tickets are $10 per garden and available online only. Children 12 and under enter free with an accompanying adult. gardenconservancy.org
Cottage roses like these are among some of the sights to be seen at a self-guided tour of pollinator gardens in Redlands.
(Bob Ellis)
April 27-28
The Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society Garden Tour: Pollinators Paradise — Gardens in Bloom features six private pollinator gardens and the student garden at the Grove School in Redlands. The self-guided tours are available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The society also is hosting a plant sale at 1352 Prospect Drive on Saturday only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tour maps are provided with tickets, which are $15 (children 13 and younger enter free) and can be purchased with cash or check at the Grove School and some local retailers. redlandsgardenclub.org
Riverside Community Flower Show & Garden Tour: Garden Friends With Benefits, a celebration of native pollinators, with self-guided tours of six Riverside-area gardens that demonstrate how to attract pollinators. The tours run between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. both days, along with a free flower show from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Riverside Elks Lodge, 6166 Brockton Ave., with floral displays, crafts and garden art for sale. A wristband for admission to the garden tours is $10; children under 16 enter free. riversideflowershow.com
The 31st Floral Park Home & Garden Tour in North Santa Ana features tours of historic homes and gardens from the 1920s to the 1950s from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The tour also includes a vintage automobile display, food from local restaurants and shopping opportunities. Proceeds support community scholarships and nonprofit organizations. Tickets for the tour are $45 if purchased online by April 22, $50 on the day of the event. floralparkhometour.com
The backyard home garden of Michael Solverb and Khoi Pham, featured in this year’s San Fernando Valley Open Days garden tours.
(Yuri Hasegawa / For The Times)
April 28
The Garden Conservancy San Fernando Valley Open Days Tour will showcase three elaborate private gardens at historic homes — the Wrightwood Estates Hillside Garden and the Sustainable Storybook Garden in Studio City and Longridge in Sherman Oaks. Tickets are $10 per garden and available online only. Children 12 and under enter free with an accompanying adult. gardenconservancy.org
May 4-5
The Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour features self-guided tours of 38 gardens from Long Beach to San Clemente from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. A list of the gardens and their addresses is on the Mary Lou Heard Foundation website, but plan ahead because some are open to visitors on only one of the days. The tour is free but donation jars will be set out at the gardens to support the Sheepfold, a crisis center for women and children in Orange that has long been the beneficiary of the foundation’s annual tours. heardsgardentour.com
May 4
Los Angeles Flower Farm Tour, a free self-guided tour of nine small flower farms in urban Los Angeles from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A map will be sent to people who register online to visit Frogtown Flora, Allie Cat flowers, Golden Heron, Drive by Flora, Bloomtown Flower Co., Mamabotanica, Pia Flora Design, Flowerbox Studios and Rose Lane Farms. The farm owners will be selling fresh bouquets, U-pick flowers and other related items during the tour day, so visitors are encouraged to bring a bucket of water to keep their flowers fresh as they make their tour. partiful.com
The Laguna Beach Garden Club 19th Gate & Garden Tour begins at the Laguna Beach County Water District’s Bruce Scherer Waterwise and Fire-Safe Gardens at 306 3rd St. in Laguna Beach, with special buses shuttling ticket holders to tours of several area gardens. Mexican fare and artisanal margaritas will be available for purchase; also look for free homemade baked goods. Artists will be painting canvases in several gardens, and visitors wearing a “festive garden party hat” will be entered in the tour’s hat contest. Proceeds support school gardens, local scholarships and community projects, such as the new bee mural at the water district, painted by artist Matt Willey as part of his the Good of the Hive initiative to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators. Garden tours run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, with the last entry scheduled at 2 p.m. Children are not permitted. Timed-entry tickets purchased by April 28 are $60 or $80 for entry anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., along with tickets for one food item and one drink. lagunabeachgardenclub.org
Nine home gardens will be on display in View Park and Ladera Heights as part of the Blooms With a View Spring Garden Tour.
(Felicia Smith)
May 5
Blooms With a View Spring Garden Tour, sponsored by Inspired Garden Artistry, celebrates its 11th biennial tour and vendor fair at nine home gardens in View Park and Ladera Heights from noon to 5 p.m. The fair will be at the southern entrance of Ladera Park, 4750 W. 62nd St., in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood of South L.A. The tour includes a waterfall, a rose garden, fruit trees, a Zen garden and an outdoor art studio with a 37-foot mosaic storybook wall. Tickets can be purchased online until April 15 for $30; $35 if purchased after April 15 or on the day of the event at the park. inspiredgardenartistry.com
The 2024 Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Assn. & Hospice Camarillo Garden Tour features art exhibits and demonstrations, live music, refreshments and a garden-themed boutique in addition to tours of five Camarillo gardens from noon to 4 p.m. Artists from the Pastel Society of the Gold Coast will give demonstrations at each garden. Tickets are $30 online. Proceeds benefit the association’s hospice program in Camarillo. lmvna.org
May 11
West Floral Park and Jack Fisher Park Neighborhoods Open Garden Day features at least eight tours in two tree-lined neighborhoods of vintage homes in North Santa Ana, along with live music, art displays, garden talks and demonstrations, a classic car display, free bottled water at the gardens, coffee and doughnuts available for purchase in the morning and vendors selling food and garden products from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Tours are 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a shuttle service between the two loops of tours to minimize wait times.) Ticket sales begin March 19 online for $20, or $25 if purchased the day of the event, at West Santa Clara and North Westwood avenues in Santa Ana. opengardenday.com
May 16
The 27th Newport Harbor Home & Garden Tour features tours at seven locally designed homes and gardens near Newport Harbor High School between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., along with a morning reception at 9 a.m., luncheon between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and online specialty boutique of home decor and accessories between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The event is a fundraiser for the Newport Harbor Educational Foundation to support academic programs and faculty at Newport Harbor High School. Tickets can be purchased online for $110 ($125 after April 26, if still available). newportharborhometour.com
One of many gardens you can check out on the San Clemente Garden Club 2024 Garden Tour.
(Kim Neal)
May 18
San Clemente Garden Club 2024 Garden Tour features self-guided tours and live entertainment at five San Clemente-area gardens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online before the event for $35 ($30 each if purchasing four or more). Day-of tickets are $45 and must be purchased in person, at a location that will be announced on the website on May 17. Proceeds support the San Clemente Garden Club College Scholarship and Junior Gardeners programs as well as conservation organization and civic beautification projects in San Clemente. sanclementegardenclub.com
The Tustin Area Historical Society 25th Old Town Tustin Home and Garden Tour includes tours of the community’s vintage homes and gardens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., along with maypole dancing, artists painting, live music, horse-drawn trolleys and vendors selling garden-related merchandise. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Tustin Area Museum in Tustin for $40 in advance, $45 on the day of the event. tustinhistory.com
See inside three private gardens not typically open to the public at Virginia Robinson Gardens.
(Josh Johnston)
Virginia Robinson Gardens 35th Spring Rhapsody Garden Tour includes three of the historic estate’s private gardens not normally open to the public, along with tours of the house decked out in floral arrangements, live music, a catered luncheon on the great lawn, a silent auction and an on-site marketplace, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Beverly Hills. Purchase tickets online for $350, as well as valet parking for $50. robinsongardens.org
May 19
The Rossmoor Woman’s Club 19th Garden Tour features self-guided tours of five private gardens in the Rossmoor-Los Alamitos area of Orange County, just north of Seal Beach, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event also includes tours of two elementary school gardens cultivated by students and their mentors from the Orange County Master Gardeners program. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online in April or, on the day of the tour, at the club’s outdoor marketplace, featuring music, food, craft and plant sales in Arbor Village, 10651 Los Alamitos Blvd. in Los Alamitos. Net proceeds from the tours support local charities and college scholarships for Los Alamitos High School students. rossmoorwomansclub.org
Neve Campbell in Scream 7.
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The OG Scream Queen Neve Campbell returns. Scream 7 re-centers the franchise back on Sidney Prescott. She has a new life, a family, and lots of baggage. You know the drill: Someone dressing up as the masked slasher Ghostface comes for her, her family and friends. There’s lots of stabbing and murder and so many red herrings it’s practically a smorgasbord.
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Abriana Vicioso is the host of the Flower Hour, which takes place monthly.
(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)
Each flower carries a personal history. For Abriana Vicioso, the calla lily was her parents’ wedding flower — a symbol of her mother’s beauty. “She had this big, beautiful white calla lily in her hair,” Vicioso says. “I love my parents. They’re the reason I’m here. I’ll never forget where I came from.”
The Flower Hour begins with Vicioso announcing, with a warm smile: “Today is about touching grass.” The florist-by-trade gestures behind her to hundreds of flowers contained in buckets — blue thistles, ivory anemones and calla lilies painted silver — all twisted and unfurling into the air. “Tonight is going to be so sweet and intimate,” Vicioso says, eyeing the beautiful chaos at her feet. A grin buds across her face.
Moments before the workshop, participants sit at candlelit tables exchanging horoscopes and comparing their favorite flowers. A mention of the illustrious bird-of-paradise flower elicits coos and awe from the women. Izamar Vazquez, who is from Jalisco, Mexico, reveals her fondness for roses, which make her feel connected to her Mexican roots.
Vicioso hosts her flower-themed wellness workshop near the iconic Original Los Angeles Flower Market in downtown L.A. In January, the first Flower Hour event sold out, prompting her to make it a monthly series. Vicioso describes the event as a “three-part journey” where participants are invited to drink herbal tea, smoke rose-petal-rolled cannabis joints and create a floral arrangement. “The guide is to connect with the medicine of flowers,” Vicioso says.
Rose petal joints, tea and flower arranging are all part of The Flower Hour event’s offerings.
The event is hosted at the Art Club, a membership-based co-working space. “The Flower Hour is really beautiful. Everyone gets to explore their creativity while meeting new people,” says Lindsay Williams, the co-owner of the Art Club.
The idea for Flower Hour came to Vicioso during a conversation with her mother. “We joke all the time that flowers were destined to make their way into my life,” she says. She works as a florist and models on the side, even appearing in the pages of Vogue. Vicioso grew up in a Caribbean household, where flowers and offerings were part of daily life. “In my culture and religion, a lot of my family practices — an Afro-Caribbean religion — we build altars.”
Like many cultures, flowers carry sentimental value in her religion. “I’m Caribbean, so a lot of my family practices a Yoruba religion, which comes from Africa. In the Caribbean, it’s well known as Santería.”
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After a difficult year and a breakup, Vicioso wanted to marry her love of flowers with community building. Because Vicioso uses cannabis medicinally, the workshop naturally includes a smoking component. “My family has smoked cannabis for a lot of reasons for a long time. It’s a really healing plant,” she explains.
In the workshop, even the cannabis gets the floral treatment. Vicioso presents her rose-petal-wrapped joints on a silver platter at each table. She rolled each by hand. “If you’ve never smoked a rose-petal-rolled joint, the difference with this is it’s going to have roses that have a slight tobacco effect,” she announces.
During the workshop, Vicioso stresses the importance of buying cannabis from local vendors. The cannabis provided was purchased from a Northern Californian vendor. The wellness workshop aims to reclaim the healing ritual of smoking cannabis. “This is a plant that has been commercialized,” Vicioso says. “There’s a lot of Black and Brown people who are in jail for this plant.”
The resulting workshop is what Vicioso describes as “an immersive wellness experience that is the intersection of wellness, creativity, community and an appreciation of flowers.” The workshop serves as a reminder to enjoy Earth’s innate beauty in the form of flowers — including cannabis. “It’s this gift that the universe gave us for free and that I have this deep connection with,” Vicioso says.
Conversation cards to generate discussion among participants (top, letf). The workshop serves as a “third space” for Angelenos to engage in tactile creativity and community building outside of traditional nightlife settings.
After enjoying lavender chamomile tea and smoking a joint, Vicioso introduces the flowers to the group before inviting them to pick their own. She emphasizes each flower’s personality traits, describing green dianthus as a “Dr. Seuss” plant. Then, there are calla lilies with their “main character moment.” It gets personal. “Start thinking of a flower in your life that you can discover,” she says. “If you’re feeling like you need inspiration, you can always remember that these flowers have stories.”
Vicioso infuses wisdom into her instruction on floral arrangements: There are no mistakes. Let the flowers tell you where they want to go, she urges. Intuition will be your guide — the wilder, the better.
“Hecho in Mexico” reads a sticker on a bunch of green stems. “Like me,” says Vazquez with a laugh. “They’re all doing their own thing. Like a family,” she says later, arranging stems.
The Flower Hour participants and Vicioso, center, chat as they build their own floral arrangements at the sold-out event.
Two participants — Vazquez and Rebeca Alvarado — are friends who run a floral design company together called Izza Rose. Like Vicioso, the friends have a connection to flowers through their Latin American culture. They met Vicioso in the floral industry and were overjoyed to discover her workshop.
“This is a great way to connect with other people,” says Vazquez.
Alvarado agrees, adding: “You’re getting to know people outside of going to bars. You can connect in different ways when there’s an activity.”
Vazquez uses flowers to stay connected to her Mexican heritage, adding that she prefers to support Mexican vendors. In recent months, the downtown L.A. flower market has struggled to recover from ongoing ICE raids. “Some are scared to come back,” says Vazquez.
Hand-rolled cannabis joints wrapped in rose petals are presented on a silver platter at The ArtClub (top, right). The Flower Hour aims to reclaim the healing rituals of cannabis and flowers.
Another participant, Barbara Rios, was attracted to the workshop for stress relief. “You can hang out with your friends, but it’s nice to do things with your hands,” she says. “I work a stressful job, and it’s nice to have that third space that we’re all craving.”
On this February night, the participants were predominantly women, save for one man. In the future, Vicioso hopes that more men learn to engage with flowers. “There’s a statistic about men receiving flowers for the first time at their funerals, and I think we have changed that,” she says.
To conclude the workshop, Vicioso encourages participants to build lasting friendships and incorporate flower arranging into their daily practice — even if it’s just with a small, inexpensive bouquet.
“Get some flowers together, go to the park, hang out with each other and hang out with me,” she says. Participants leave with flower arrangements in hand. In the darkness of the night air, it briefly looks as though the women carry silver calla lilies that are blooming from their palms.
An underwater view shows US’ Lilly King competing in a heat of the women’s 200m breaststroke swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 31, 2024. (Photo by François-Xavier MARIT / AFP) (Photo by FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT/AFP via Getty Images)
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This week’s show was recorded in Bloomington, Indiana with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Bill Kurtis, Not My Job guest Lilly King and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Josh Gondelman, and Faith Salie. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
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