It's Camellia Go-Time, at Descanso Gardens

The hubbub of the holiday season can feel hubbubier every year, or so it seems.

The must-dos. The gotta-gos. The thousand different things we need to address, buy, return, bake, and complete, and if there aren't actually a thousand things on our errand list, it can often feel like that is the overwhelming case.

There are ways to revive a post-holiday spirit that's been over-hubbub'd, however, and it involves one word: nature.

Whether that's a mountain hike, a beach morning, or calling upon the glorious wintertime camellias of Descanso Gardens is up to your own nature-yearning tastes.

Ah yes, those famous camellias, which are as synonymous with the historic, oak-filled La Cañada Flintridge spread as roses are to The Huntington and peacocks and turtles are to the Arboretum.

Camellias can seem to be solely January and February superstars in many minds, due to the many camellia-oriented events at Descanso Gardens during the first sixth of any given year, but keep this in mind: They are delightful in December, and even November, too.

Which is all to say that the good word from Descanso Gardens, as of late December, is that "(t)he camellias are beautiful this winter!"

Which is all to say that you can go to the trail-filled property for an after-holiday breather, even on New Year's Day.

It's open on Jan. 1, hurrah.

And more hurrahs are to come: A camellia wine dinner, a Cool Camellia Celebration, and the Pacific Society Camellia Show will all bloom in the very near future at Descanso.

But for now?

There are lots of blooms to see, in lots of hues, and if some time spent outside, in the breezy quiet of one of Southern California's great gardens, is just what you require after the holidays, then go be calmed by camellias, in La Cañada Flintridge.