From Betsy Malloy,
Your Guide to California Travel.
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These are a few of the best places in California to stop and smell the roses, as they say. Don't let the stereotypes fool you. California has seasons, and most of these gardens will be more beautiful spring through fall than they will in winter.

Los Angeles

• Getty Gardens: One of our favorites
• Huntington Gardens
• Los Angeles Arboretum
• Rose Parade: It's kind of like a garden on wheels

San Francisco

• [linl url=http://www.gardenshow.com/sf/index/index.asp]San Francisco Flower Show[/link]: Held in March, this show features spectacular display gardens and plenty of ideas for sprucing up your own garden, too
• Filoli, Woodside
• Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park
• San Francisco Botanical Garden
• Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park
• Fresno Blossom Trail: They're working orchards rather than "gardens," but from late February to mid-March, they're bloomin' beautiful!

San Diego

• Balboa Park
• Japanese Friendship Garden

Other Locations

• Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

Rest of the West

• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson
• Classical Chinese Garden, Portland
• Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix
• Japanese Garden, Portland
• Rose Garden, Portland

Return to the California for Culture Lovers Index to find more artistic and cultural places to go on your California vacation.