Ah, Shade: A New South Coast Botanic Garden Tour Keeps Cool

Slipping out of the full power of a sunbeam into a shadowier spot, the sort of low-lit location where we can fan our face and lower our personal heat scale?

We're doing just that during these bright and warm July days, for sure.

For shade, in the loveliest and most traditional sense of the word, is something quite desirable as temperatures push up, up, up on a summer afternoon.

(The other sort of shade, in the modern parlance, is something we try and avoid, though throwing it? Many humans do, at some point, either knowingly or unknowingly, so if you want to throw a little shade while standing in the shade, that is up to you.)

Seeking cool-down shade can be trickier than throwing some shade, however, especially when we've reached the warmest days of the year.

Here to help us find some refreshing respites in nature?

South Coast Botanic Garden, where a new twice-a-week tour will admire the leafy property's keep-it-cool canopies, those green and branchy overhangs that give visitors a chance to step out of the direct sunshine for a moment or two.

Shade, in short, is the alluring theme of the lovely look-around.

Terry Huang, the Director of Living Collections for the flowery wonderland, is the host of the breezy tour, which is included in your admission to the Palos Verdes Peninsula garden.

The gadabout will shadily occur each Monday and Wednesday at 10:30 in the morning, a nicely shady time of day. And if you need shade in the afternoon? Look to the 3 p.m. tour for respite.

There's a historical component to the hour-long lark, one that looks at the story of this 87-acre idyll, as well as the "nature" of botanic gardens, and the gifts they give to their respective communities.

Shade won't be thrown in this instance: Botanic gardens, shady spots though they may be, are places full of delight, joy, discovery, and beauty.

Guests are also invited to wear their puffiest and prettiest "Bridgerton"-style frocks, if they're feeling it, and to carry a parasol, too, to further enhance the ethereal air of the adventure.

No parasol? No worries: A sun hat will be ideal, or any other shade-offering chapeau.

Attending one of these informative happenings before July concludes is recommended, if you'd also like to saunter by the topiary animals on display. Admire large-scale rabbits, flamingoes, and other critters at the garden through July 31.