Public Gardens Are Bursting With a Colorful Winter Blossom

Desert wildflowers, cherry blossoms, the Giant Tecolote Ranunculus of The Flower Fields, wisteria vines, Antelope Valley's incredible California poppies: A local lover of splendid bloomage can find a lot to love around our region from the moment the new year begins, or at least not too long after.

We don't have to wait for the start of spring, in other words, to start obsessing over our remarkable regional flowers, both the wilder varieties and those that have been garden-grown.

And somewhere between the first wildflowers and the burstingly beautiful fruit trees?

One of our area's cultivated superstars, the camellia, makes its showy statement.

It's a frilly favorite that rises to pretty prominence each February, and while finding the flower in front yards is fairly easy around Los Angeles, our larger gardens are where camellias come into their awesome own.

Descanso Gardens is home to a sizable and celebrated Camellia Forest, a decades-old living collection of incredible specimens, some of them quite rare.

February is go-time for this glorious section of the La Cañada Flintridge destination, with tours popping up (there's a Camellia Society look-around on Feb. 25) and other events designed to call attention to this attention-worthy favorite.

A ticket to the gardens is required to call upon the camellias and/or join a tour.

And at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens? The 49th Annual Camellia Show will open its petals at the Brody Botanical Center on Feb. 11 and 12.

You'll need a reservation to visit the San Marino landmark on a weekend day in addition to a ticket.

Bloom on, February flowers; it isn't spring, but you give us a bit of spring zing, just when our wintry worlds are needing it most.