Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
County of Los Angeles | |
CEO | Michael Desplaines |
---|---|
Parent organization | Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation |
Website | http://www.arboretum.org |
The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 127 acres (51.4 ha), is an arboretum, botanical garden, and historical site nestled into hills near the San Gabriel Mountains in Arcadia, California, United States. Open daily, it only closes on Christmas Day.[1]
The Arboretum is located across the street from Santa Anita Park, the horse racetrack, and The Shops at Santa Anita.
History
The Arboretum is sited on a remaining portion of the Rancho Santa Anita, one of the Mexican land grants of Southern California. Rancho Santa Anita was unusual in that it was located above a large part of the Raymond Basin aquifer. Three sag ponds and numerous springs were found in the area and the only remaining one is now called Baldwin Lake. Lacy Park in the city of San Marino once was another sag pond and the precise location of the third is not known but may have been on the grounds of the Huntington Library and Botanic Garden. As a consequence of the relative abundance of water, it was important area in prehistory as a year-round source of water, the body of water known as
In 1839, the grant to Rancho Santa Anita was awarded to
Subsequent owners of Rancho Santa Anita were; in sequence, Henry Dalton, Joseph A. Rowe, Albert Dibblee in partnership with William Corbett and a Mr. Barker, Leonard Rose and William Wolfskill, Alfred Chapman with Harris Newmark until finally the property was sold to Elias Jackson Baldwin. With each transition, beginning with the sale to Rose and Wolfskill, a portion of the ranch was sold off. Every owner in some ways typifies the history of southern California during the period. Agricultural innovation is a feature which persisted taking advantage of the climate and the new crops that it made possible as well as a growing body of consumers and new markets opened by transportation innovations.
In 1875 when
The arboretum began in 1947 with California and Los Angeles jointly purchasing 111 acres (44.9 ha) to create an arboretum around the Baldwin site. By 1949, the first greenhouse had been constructed and the site's plants inventoried. In 1951, the first 1,000 trees were planted, and in 1956 the arboretum was opened to the public. Ongoing construction of gardens and greenhouses took place during the 1950s and 1960s, and in 1975-1976 the Tropical Greenhouse was opened and the Prehistoric and Jungle Garden completed. Construction and renovation of both greenhouses and gardens continues.
Groundwater recharge ponds and a pump station has been proposed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and a consortium of five foothill cities for 4 acres (1.6 ha) of the Australia section.[2]
The gardens
The arboretum's plants are grouped by geography with gardens for
In addition, the arboretum is home to a flock of some 200 peafowl, which are descendants of original birds imported by Baldwin from India. The peafowl is a symbol of the city of Arcadia. The first record of peafowl in what is now the United States was the introduction by Frances Sinclair on Kaua’i I., Hawai‘i, in 1860.[5] However the first reported introduction into the continental United States occurred in 1879, when Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin brought 3 pairs to his vast ranch in the San Gabriel Valley of California.[6] Today, semidomestic or feral populations persist mostly in California and Florida. Peafowl can also be found throughout neighborhoods surrounding the arboretum.
Baldwin Lake
Baldwin Lake surrounding the Queen Anne Cottage is a major attraction at the Arboretum. Numerous waterfowl including ducks and Canada geese are found there on a regular basis.
Santa Anita Depot
In 1970, the
Management
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden is governed by Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation and Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation.[12]
The Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation is a non-profit organization governed by a board of trustees with a CEO. The current CEO and President of the board of trustees are:
The current Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation leaders at the Arboretum are:[12]
- Director: Norma E. García-González
- Deputy Director: Kevin Regan
- Regional Operations Manager: Hugo Maldonado[14]
Gallery
Selected garden images of Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.
-
Plumeria blossoms on Tallac knoll
-
Los Angeles County Arboretum, view of fountain
-
Near the Australian collection
-
Pond view
-
Atop the knoll
In popular culture
Dozens of movies and televisions programs have had scenes filmed at the arboretum beginning in 1936, including portions of two Jurassic Park movies and Objective, Burma!.[15]
Some of the Tarzan adventure movies were partially shot here. It was also the scenes for Paradise Island on The New Original Wonder Woman.
The Queen Anne Cottage used in the opening credits of the television series Fantasy Island is located here. The Queen Anne Cottage is reported to be haunted. Some have claimed to see the ghost of Lucky Baldwin or one of his wives. Visitors have claimed hearing moaning coming from the house (where Lucky Baldwin's wife also died of cancer), odd cooking smells, and seeing various strange anomalies walk the gardens at night.[16][17]
A number of films have been made at the Santa Anita Depot, including the remake of Christmas in Connecticut, which starred Dyan Cannon, Arnold Schwarzenegger (also directed), and Kris Kristofferson.
In 2013, Katy Perry filmed her music video for "Roar" at the arboretum.
Other movies filmed here include:[18]
- Tarzan Escapes (1936)
- Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)
- Tarzan's Peril (1951)
- Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946)
- Tarzan and the Huntress (1947)
- Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950)
- Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955)
- Captive Girl (1950)
- Pygmy Island (1950)
- Jungle Manhunt (1951)
- Mark of the Gorilla (1950)
- Jungle Jim (1948)
- Devil’s Island (1938)
- The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
- The Women (1939)
- Road to Singapore (1940)
- The Lady Eve (1941)
- Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- Notorious (1946)
- Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
- Typhoon (1940)
- The African Queen (1951)
- Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
- Behind Enemy Lines (1986)
- Who’s That Girl (1987)
- Lord of the Flies (1990)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Dave (1993)
- The American President (1995)
- Matilda (1996)
- Anaconda (1997)
- Bedazzled (2000)
- Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
- Bridesmaids (2011)
- Meet The Fockers (2004)
See also
- Botanical gardens in California
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- Parks in Los Angeles County, California
- Hugo Reid Adobe
References
- ^ "About the Arboretum". Archived from the original on January 22, 2010. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ Sahagún, Louis (January 17, 2021). "Consortium wants to cut down L.A. County Arboretum trees to make room for storm water treatment". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- ^ Ng, David (April 27, 2011). "California Philharmonic loses summer home at Arboretum to Pasadena Pops". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
- ^ Ng, David (August 17, 2012). "Michael Feinstein to succeed Marvin Hamlisch at Pasadena Pops". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ "Introduction — Common Peafowl — Birds of North America Online". Archived from the original on August 17, 2009.
- ^ "Peacocks Take Over Florida Town | Audubon". December 23, 2009.
- ISBN 978-1-59714-147-5
- ISBN 978-1-59714-147-5
- ^ "Early California History" (PDF). Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
- ^ "Caminos – Newsletter of the Arcadia Historical Society" (PDF). Arcadia Historical society. July 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 8, 2011. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
- ^ abandonedrails.com, Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad
- ^ a b c "Governance". arboretum.org. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ "Arboretum Appoints Richard Schulhof As CEO". arcadiaweekly.com. August 11, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ "HUGO MALDONADO, REGNL OPERATIONS MGR, PARKS & REC (2015)". transparentcalifornia.com. 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ Internet Movie Database
- ISBN 978-0-14-200234-6.
- ^ Parzanese, Joe. "LA County Arboretum". Weird California. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ISBN 9780804137775.
External links
- Arboretum.org: official Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden website
- Arboretum.org: LA Arboretum Library website
- Oxy.edu: Movies and television shows filmed at the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum
- Seeing-stars.com: The Queen Anne Cottage at the Los Angeles Arboretum — featured in the opening credits of the television series Fantasy Island.
- Pasadena POPS website — summer outdoor concerts at the Arboretum.