Cool Camellia Celebration Blooms at Descanso Gardens

Spend two weekend days honoring the awesome winter flower, in La Cañada Flintridge.

What to Know

  • Jan. 12 and 13
  • La Cañada Flintridge
  • Included with garden admission

January flowers, in many places, involve the amaryllises and poinsettias and paperwhites that continue to open up in kitchens and dining rooms, long after their Christmastime heydays.

And while no outdoor flower worth its weight in petals would sniff in the direction of the holidays' exquisite indoor growers, there are iconic blossoms, at least around Southern California, that are now popping, thanks to sunshine, rain, and fresh air.

One of the icons of the outdoors, come January, can be found in yards across the region, and in pretty, well-cultivated profusion at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. 

It's the camellia, and while you can visit the historic nature destination at any time, in the heart of winter, to admire the Camellia Forest — there's actually an area called that, yes sirree — the second weekend of January 2019 will be extra-camellia'd-out.

That's when the Cool Camellia Celebration will flower, delivering a garden of delights to people longing to be among beautiful buds, even months ahead of spring's official entrance.

Your admission to Descanso Gardens gets you into the festival activities, which include camellia crafts, camellia walks, demos on camellia pruning (Saturday) and arranging (Sunday), and live music, too.

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The dates? Turn your face to the sun, like a camellia might, and get to La Cañada Flintridge on Jan. 12 or 13.

The celebration is a bright ray of summer in the midst of winter, at least in spirit, but, then again, those rays never really leave us, fully, around these parts.

Thank in large part the lovely camellia, one of our famous cold-weather flowers, and thank Descanso Gardens for always putting on a camellia-focused wingding of a wintertime to-do.

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