Springtime at the Huntington Library

Chloe Lin
Feature Editor

A thousand different shades of yellow, orange, pink, red and white blossom among the walkways and arbors of The Huntington’s Rose Garden, where the flowers have recently begun to bloom. The Huntington’s 120-acre grounds are a lovely sight to see no matter what the season is, but the flowers have a particular vivacity in the spring.

Like the roses that have just made their reappearance at The Huntington, the beloved Japanese Garden reopened on April 11 after a yearlong closure. During that time, The Huntington refurbished the aging infrastructure and Japanese House, in addition to installing a new teahouse, tea garden and waterfall. Other highlights include a bonsai tree court, Zen Garden and moon bridge.

The nine-acre Japanese Garden is always a beautiful place to visit, and the renovation makes it all the more attractive. Unfortunately, this meant that people packed the pathways on my visit. There isn’t a lot of seating available, and the wisteria arbor offers a lovely view but is very crowded. Climbing the steps by the entrance and up to the Japanese House quickly gets tiring, especially in warm weather.

If you start craving some air conditioning, head over to the changing exhibitions. The Ancient Chinese bronze mirrors are on display until May 14 and is worth checking out if you’re paying The Huntington a visit. There are only about 80 mirrors on display in one room, but the development of styles and patterns displayed is intriguing.

Nearby the building that houses the mirrors is the “Visions of Empire” exhibit, which is open until July 23 and contains maps, letters, diaries, ads and stereographs relating to transcontinental railroads from 1840 to 1880. Although the topic is interesting, I found the actual exhibit lacking. It also seemed that a long explanatory paragraph accompanied every item on display. I wanted to like this exhibit, but I think the walls of text are too much for someone not all that interested in trains.

Although the temporary exhibits were somewhat lackluster, and the day a little too warm for me to fully enjoy the gardens, the rest of The Huntington was fantastic and always worth a visit. I particularly enjoyed its collection of American art in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries and the impressive 18th century portraits in the Thornton Portrait Gallery.

There is always so much to do and see on the extensive grounds of The Huntington. There are collections of art and furniture spanning from the fifteenth to the twentieth century, a history of science hall, rare manuscripts, a humid and realistic recreation of a rainforest housed in a gigantic greenhouse and many more themed gardens.

When visiting, be sure to wear sensible shoes for walking the garden paths and dress appropriately.