Early last week I took an expedition to the Arboretum – that is, The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens – to get the dose of nature I’m not otherwise able to get thanks to the not-yet-quite-contained Station Fire. Although you would expect this to be located somewhere downton, it’s not. It’s in Arcadia right here in the San Gabriel Valley, practically my backyard. I’ve been going there since at least preschool and let me tell you, it is a fantastic place to spend the day.
The land the Arboretum stands on was once part of the 60,000-acre Rancho Santa Anita owned by Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin. This land is now part of three or four cities and includes the Santa Anita Racetrack, made famous by Seabiscuit, directly across the street, started by horse breeder Baldwin. The Arboretum is on land that was toward the center of the estate and includes Baldwin’s cottage, adobe, coach barn, and Lake Baldwin, which was – other than just being a landscaping feature – a resevoir for the Rancho.
Baldwin died of pnuemonia in 1909, and the land passed on to his daughter Anita, who built a 50-room (!) house nearby and eventually sold the ranch to Harry Chandler, an LA robber baron who owned the Los Angeles Times. It was only in 1947 that the land around the house was sold to a non-profit and turned into the arboretum and botanic garden that it is today.
The “Queen Anne” Cottage was probably one of the places where I first became interested in history. Twice a year they open it for tours, and we took one when I was probably about 7 years old. I remember having to put little slippers over my shoes. There are all the trappings of a luxurious Victorian life inside. (You can see some of them in my previous post.)
Other than the historic structures, of course, there’s plenty of plant life. Wandering around is kind of surreal – at least on a Tuesday afternoon – because there’s almost no one there.
I know the above picture looks like a close-up, but it definitely wasn’t. I was looking up.
The last three photos are of a sculpture they have on display called “Catawampus”. I’m not sure if it’s a living sculpture or was just woven. Either way, it’s cool. It reminds me a little bit of Mitch’s Fab Tree Hab.
This was just odd. Dude was just hanging out in the middle of the road. Never seen a squirrel do that.
The more interesting wildlife in the Arboretum are the peafowl. Lucky Baldwin imported them to add a bit of color, and they’ve lived there to this day. Well, except for when they hop the fence and wander around. A few years back, a peacock even wound up in my yard. It was a weird experience, to say the least.
Peachicks! They were cleaning themselves up in the shade next to their mom, the peahen at the start of this post. And since I started this post with peafowl, I’ll finish it with one, too:
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