What to Know
- La Cañada Flintridge; the tulips may be viewed with paid admission (no separate ticket required)
- Staff members and volunteers planted over 30,000 tulip bulbs in late January 2022
- The tulips traditionally bloom during the latter half of March
March 17, and the days surrounding it, may offer us some of the greenest scenes of the year.
We see green candies on the store shelves, green decorations festooning our neighbors' doors, green beer at the local pub, and green on the trees, as little spring leaves start to sprout.
But, at least around Southern California, other hues are swirling before our marveling eyes, and through our nature-noticing fancies, too. Those include orange for poppies, purple for wisteria, and all of the colors that fill out the sizable tulip bed at Descanso Gardens.
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And there are a lot of tulips to behold, when all of the fanciful flowers begin to open at once. The stately, skyward specimens traditionally do just that when the second half of March arrives, but timing your tulip-focused foray can be a bit tricky.
Good thing that the Descanso Gardens social media team has you covered, for the call just went out, on Wednesday, March 16, that "recent warm weather has caused more #tulips to flower this week."
Some 30,000 bulbs were gently placed in the rich soil of the garden's Promenade area in late January, a major effort that requires the dedication, patience, and can-do of several staff members and volunteers.
Beholding those bulbs when they've transformed into fully blossoming flowers is a must-sigh, er, must-see sight of a Southern California springtime, and if the March 16 post is an indication, the sighs are starting up.
And the sighs will surely continue, for these pretty perennials form a striking spectrum of color. Purples, reds, yellows, and all sorts of stripes can be seen among the photo-ready flowers.
Your best bet, bloomies of SoCal?
Find your way to the La Cañada Flintridge destination in the next two weeks, before April, and well before the tulips take their final bow.
No separate ticket is required to admire this ethereal expanse; your admission to Descanso Gardens will give you entry to the tulip area, as well as all of the other areas of the 150-acre patch.
Sweet: Lilacs are also having their moment, and the fruit trees around the Japanese Garden continue to enchant.
