LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. — If April showers bring May flowers, what does an extraordinarily wet SoCal winter bring?
“General loveliness and beauty,” says David Bare, the director of horticulture and garden operations at Descanso Gardens.
While there is always something blooming at the sprawling La Cañada Flintridge garden, different species tend to blossom sequentially, he says, one bowing as the next one buds. But not this spring.
“We’ve had this sort of crescendo of blooms happening where we had cherries, and camelias and tulips, and now lilacs all blooming at the same time,” he explained. “And it’s just really incredible.”
Take the tulips. Each year the garden enlists volunteers to help plant some 30,000 bulbs. This year, that was a muddier, messier enterprise. There was also a concern about the bulbs developing rot in the soggy soil, but Bare wasn’t too worried.
“I’m the last person on Earth that’s gonna complain about rain in Southern California,” he said. “You know, after many, many years of drought, it’s just a real relief to see it.”
By now, the tulips would probably be gone, but he says the cooler temperatures have allowed them to hold on a little longer. The camellias — normally a winter flower — should also be on their way out.
“They’re usually done about March, with a few stragglers,” Bare said, “but this year, we have quite a few.”
In fact, they are overlapping with the Clivia, a rare double act lining the winding paths.
While people may not think about visiting the garden on a rainy day, Bare says they’re missing out. Wet weather works wonders on the flora, casting them in the perfect light.
“The wonderful thing about rainy days is you don’t get the reflection of the sun,” he explained. “The colors are just so much more saturated. No pun intended.”
Mark Comon knows just what he means. “Ansel Adams said it best. The worst weather always makes the best pictures,” he quoted.
Comon is the owner of Paul’s Photo in Torrance and the founder of the Creative Photo Academy. He didn’t set out to visit Descanso on a drizzly day. He just got lucky.
“I love the beautiful, soft light, the beautiful, velvety colors you get on a day like today,” he said, his camera trained on the tulips. “And then you get these beautiful raindrops and they’re like jewels on the flowers.”
He wasn’t the only one snapping away. Standing in a light drizzle at the promenade, he discussed settings and depth of field with two women who dubbed themselves the “photo girlfriends.”
“There’s other photographers here. There’s a bunch of kids walking around in the garden enjoying nature,” he said of the bucolic setting, “And that’s what life is all about: getting out and having fun.”
The abundance of rain isn’t just having an effect on the flowers. Under the ground, the roots of long established trees were lapping up Mother Nature’s generosity this winter, and Bare expects the benefits will linger for several more seasons.
“It really kind of recharges the trees,” he explained, “so we’re hoping to see some great growth from our trees this year and probably next year too as a result.”
Of course, not everything about the rain is positive.
“You know, everything grows in the rain, and that includes the weeds. So we’ll have a lot of that to deal with,” he said with a chuckle.
But that’s a small price to pay for the current spectacular display. The flowers got all the rain they need and then some. Now it’s our turn to soak it all in.