What to Know
- Tulip-planting time at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge
- Several staff members and volunteers take part in the January tradition, which involves the planting of 30,000 tulip bulbs
- The big bloom arrives in mid-March, generally, with the first tulips popping around late February; seeing the tulips is included with admission
The first days of any new year are really about laying out important plans, mapping some dreams, scattering a few seeds, and looking to a later time when our good works will, if everything goes well, come to fabulous fruition.
Sometimes, though, this uniquely January-esque idea gets extremely literal, and especially lovely, too, for seeds are currently being scattered, or, rather, bulbs are being planted at Descanso Gardens.
And we do mean a bounty of bulbs: Staff members and volunteers are busily prepping one of the La Cañada Flintridge destination's biggest and most beloved springtime shows.
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It's the annual tulip bloom, an ethereal sight that graces the garden's Promenade each March.
But what do we mean by "busily prepping"?
Flower lovers have been planting 30,000 bulbs in recent days, all to give the coming bloom oodles of spectacular hue and eye-catch-ability.
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So, for sure: You'll need to wait to enjoy the breathtaking tulip show as there are currently no tulips to be seen. Rather, future tulips — also known as bulbs, of course — are covered in soil, ready to make magic. (Well, science, not magic, but some allowance must be made for poetry.)
The first tulip to burst through the soil and open is always a major event, and you can count on this forward-thinking flower to show up around late February.
But nature is always on its own schedule, even those blossoms that have been carefully cultivated.
So your best bet? You'll want to watch the garden's social feeds for when the tulip-tastic times begin to put petal to the mettle.
You don't need to wait for March, though, to visit Descanso Gardens, which is dotted with incredible old oaks, colorful winter camellias, and, at the holidays, pumpkins and glow.
Rambling trails, pretty vistas, and places of reflection and peace may be found around the 150-acre expanse every day the garden is open.
