Nature

Explore LA Arboretum's ‘Bizarre Botany' on a Night Hike

Nature's weird and wonderful gifts will be admired, by moonlight, at the Arcadia garden.

Nadya So

What to Know

  • Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden
  • Saturday, Aug. 20 from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
  • $25 public; $20 members

Pause, close your eyes, sit back, and take a soothing sip of a fancy floral tea, if you have a cup of floral tea at the ready, and picture a gorgeous garden.

Did you imagine the verdant space bathed in sunlight? It's likely you did just that, for we are typically outside in the daylight, admiring trees, shrubs, and all sorts of striking flowers.

But no "newsflash" is required for the following statement: Gardens exist at night, and though we can't usually access them — at least the larger public gardens of Southern California — we know that leaves do shine in the moonlight, cool breezes are ruffling through the branches and tiny critters are scurrying beneath the bushes, in the ways that tiny critters often do.

Sometimes, though, moonlight and magic weave together for a special after-hours event, an informative adventure that examines the more unusual plants of a pretty plot.

And that's exactly what will sprout at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden on Saturday, Aug. 20, when "Bizarre Botany," an "Adult Night Hike," opens its peculiar petals.

The 90-minute event will take place inside the Arcadia destination, which is usually only open in the daytime, save for occasional special events and "Lightscape," the multi-week holiday light-tacular set to return in November.

"Flowers that impersonate rotting meat, trees that eat rodents whole, and cactus that thrive in the wettest places on earth" may be pondered during the lively look-around.

And lively it shall be: The botanical garden, which has roots (both historically and literally) in the 19th century, sprawls over 127 stunning acres.

A ticket if you're not a member? It's $25, while LA Arboretum members may join for $20.

It's not quite fall yet, though regional temperatures will finally dip a bit over August's third weekend. Think of "Bizarre Botany" as a wondrous window into autumn, and the strange sights, especially those hailing from the natural world, we may see during the atmospheric season.

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