JJK at The Huntington

JJK (the new TLM) were able to come visit me over Labor Day weekend.  It was so great to have visitors come and hang out.  We did some fun stuff, but honestly, I would've been happy just sitting around talking for 3 days.  I think we all had fun out and about - sometimes it is hard to tell if teenagers are having a good time, or if they just default to being to cool for stuff.  :)

On Friday we went to The Huntington.  It is my favorite place, and since I'm able to get a visitor in for free it's a good place to hang out.  My favorite thing about hanging out with Jaiden is that she doesn't care that I'm an embarrassing, out-of-touch aunt and will still do goofy things and indulge me when I asked for a picture.


Although sometimes that means I get this:


Folowed by this:


I told the nubbins that if you stand on the edge of the pond the fish will come up and nibble on your fingers.  Jaiden was terrified of them biting her fingers (even though they don't have teeth) and would splash and scare them whenever they got close.


Kolten was definitely steadier, but the fish were really suspicious after Jaiden!


We did a bit of an abbreviated tour because it was hot, and well... teenagers so after the Lilly Ponds we headed straight to the Japanese Garden.

This guy sits on top of the Tea House




Herding teenagers is kind of like herding cats!






It had been a while since I'd walked through the Bonsai Court; I don't usually go all the way over there, but Jodi wanted to check it out, and a lot of the trees were in bloom.

Hibiscus bonsai


Natal Plum (the have regular sized Natal Plum trees in the gardens as well)




Pomegranate




In the Bonsai Court:




I'd never seen this bust before and I failed to take a picture to remind me who it is, but I especially like his glasses.


We headed over to the Chinese Garden where we had the traditional almond cookies and cold beverages and sat by the lake and chatted and relaxed.  I failed to take any pictures of this portion, but one day I'll remember (or feel motivated) to get my camera out and capture this little ritual.  After a bit we started to get hungry (almond cookies only go so far), and decided to head out.  As we were walking back out I remembered that I'd told the teenagers that if they were good they could play in The Children's Garden before we left.  There are a lot of cool play stations, and water activities (that with the drought may or may not be working on any given day).

Where is Jaiden?


Where. Could.


She. Be?


Oh, Hi Jaids.  There she is. Looking a bit like a GIANT with the tiny blue door.



See how she indulges me in goofy-stuff.  Love it!

She felt a little more comfortable with her fingers near these fish.




Until it bit her, of course!


Kolten was cool as a cucumber, as usual.


I made Jaids crawl into the prism tunnel... and then I couldn't get her back out.




And she took these amazing photos for me from the middle of the tunnel.


There was a weird smoking tee pee thing.  I don't know what the real purpose of this is, but it was a foggy mist.  (Ok, I looked it up it is an interactive Topiary Volcano - the leaves are theoretically red and the mist is the smoke - it erupts every 5 minutes or so.)


And sometimes Jaids gives you this:


Before this:


The teenagers then found the pebble chimes.  You drop little rocks through the top and they hit spikes on the way down that make wind chime noises.  I thought I took a video, but now I can't find it. :(




Magnetic Sand was another big hit.  The both made mohawked hair on the forms.






I always wanted someone to pose with the crows.  Kolten didn't want to be in the picture, but we told him that since he had to he better hustle to get the shady side of the bench!




I had promised water activities and so we headed over to the vortex and water bells.  Jaiden discovered she is a water-bender.




We were kind of hanging around waiting for the Rainbow Room misters to go off.  The docent monitoring the Garden said it only went off every 20 minutes or so, and it was finishing just as we came into the Garden, and then it started again while we were busy somewhere else. We had decided to call it quits without seeing it, but just as we turned to go it turned on again.


And as we were leaving there was a sign made especially for them:




Afterward it was time for dinner.  I told JJK that I usually go across town and eat at either Olive Garden or BJs Brewhouse (btw, who names a restaurant BJs?!).  Neither are particularly my favorite, but they are easy, familiar, and most of all tradition - stretching more than a decade when I first visited The Huntington.  When I told them Olive Garden was a) an option, and b) was a 2-story restaurant it was decided.  As a bonus, they were running their special where you can choose 1 entree to eat there, and then get another to take home.  Bonus 2 meals in 1 for hungry teenagers who totally believe in the absolute necessity of second dinner.   We sat, ate, and talked at the restaurant and then drove back to Long Beach where we sat and talked for several more hours - and planned the adventure for tomorrow.  JJK went back to their hotel and I went to bed very happy to have family visiting!

Huntington at Its Most Engaging

My monthly pilgrimage to The Huntington was mostly centered around seeing the corpse flower, but I also wandered the gardens and witnessed a marriage proposal.

Stop in the rose garden.  There are still a gazillion roses blooming all of the time.

And I took the arbor path that skirts the Japanese Garden to the Subtropical Garden.

These are the three trees in the Subtropical Garden that frame the wide open expanse of lawn by the Lilly Ponds.

Path around the Lilly Ponds.  I wouldn't recommend walking this way; the plants have taken over the entire path.

Looking through the bamboo around the Lilly Ponds into the Desert Garden.

Big, creepy, baby statue

Water Lillies

The Billy Buttons are dying now.  I feel like I should put together a collage to show the whole life cycle of these flowers.

I took my traditional break in the gallery overlooking the Japanese Garden, and there was this guy just kind of loitering around the drum bridge - kinda in the bushes, and watching the foot bridge anxiously.  I was sitting next to a couple of benches full of guys from (judging by the accents) from a combination of the UK and New Zealand and they were running a full commentary on this guy hiding in the bushes.  The debate centered around whether or not he was there to propose to some, as yet unidentified, woman or if he were just proposing to every woman who walked across the footbridge.

I wish I had my camera out and documented the whole thing, but when he reached into his pocket I couldn't resist snapping some pictures.  

My benchmates applauded, yelled their congratulations, and then a photographer jumped out of the bushes and started taking photos.  The girl under the umbrella was the "friend' who brought the newly-affianced to the gardens.  It seems like they planned a "girls" day, but really it was all part of the plan.

It was really sweet, and an awesome place to propose.  Congratulations and best wishes to this random couple!

Side note:  it was a bizillion degrees and this poor guy was all decked out for the proposal.  Sweating twice as much because he was so nervous, in addition to just being really too warm for comfort. 

Corpse Flower

The Amorphophallus Titanum aka Titan Arum aka Corpse Flower is native to the equatorial rain forests of Sumatra and blooms when it damn well pleases.  There is no regular cycle; a plant can go for years and years without flowering, and then when it does – the bloom only lasts one or two days.  The last bloom at the Huntington was in 2010.  The Stinky Plant grew from 39.5 inches to 66 inches in just 11 days.  What makes it most famous, however is its foul, rotting-meat-like odor.

The corm is the  underground “bulb” part of the plan.  (Not a botanist)

Once the corm stores up enough energy it may grow a leaf:

That is a single leaf.  I know it looks like a tree, but it’s not.  It’s a leaf.  True story.

This is the vegetative state of the Titum Arum.  The leaf dies back after a 12 – 18 months and then after another (at least) 6 months of rest a bud develops.  The bud (which you can see on the corm) either sprouts a new leaf (mostly) or the plant will flower.

“Oh hai; I’m going to smell like death very soon.”

Life cycle on display:

Ready for its close-up:

The Huntington sent its first notification on August 14^th or 15^th so I was able to go on Saturday to see it pre-bloom.  I was also happy that – because I’m a member – no matter what day it bloomed in the next week or so I would be able to see it.  Members had after-hours benefits so even if it was during the week I’d be able to go see it after work.  So excited!

I monitored The Huntington’s Instagram and Tumblr accounts, as well as my email, and their blog for the next week watching the progress and noting the updated predictions for bloom.  And then about 4:00 on Saturday, August 23^rd they announced it had started to open and they would be open late to accommodate member viewing.  I high-tailed it to Pasadena to see it for myself.

There was a Huntington staffer there who was taking everyone’s camera and taking pictures of the inside of the flower…pretty cool.

That is him standing right next to it – so you get an idea of the size.

I have to say the night I was there it wasn’t at peak stinkiness – in fact it smelled a little like compost, dirt, and oddly enough – green peppers.  It was an overall mildly unpleasant smell, but not the stench I was imagining.  One of the docents said that he was sure when they opened the Conservatory the next morning it would be enough to bowl you over.

The next week JJK came out for a visit and we went back to The Huntington.  (pictures from that visit later)  I was telling Jodi about the smell and when, at the end of our visit we walked to the Conservatory (to take Jaids and Kolten) to the Children’s Garden Jodi remarked that she could totally smell green peppers.  We walked into the Conservatory and ….

Look what was still in the forecourt:

The Huntington staff had cut a hole in the front to hand pollinated the plant. So we also got a peek at the actual tiny flowers inside.

I’ve been fascinated by this plant since the first time I heard about it, and was overjoyed to be able to actually see it in bloom.  I think it is pretty cool.  And just for those of you who read the whole post:

Amorphophallus titanum translates to:  giant misshapen penis.