Arlington Garden located at 275 Arlington Drive in Pasadena, is a little gem of a garden. I heard about this garden from purchasing one of their marmalades at the local farmer’s market. By the way it was described, I got the impression it was a garden adjacent to the local hospital and just had a citrus grove. It is not exactly that. It is three acres located at the corner of a residential street and has several sections in the garden including desert, Mediterranean, South African, and a citrus grove.

When I walked in on a sunny mid-summer afternoon, I noticed the smell of sage, rosemary, and eucalyptus. It is dense with California native shrubs such as bladderpod, monkey flower, several different kinds of sage, buckwheat, as well as common shrubs such as boxwood and rosemary. Towering above are trees such as desert willows, cypress, oaks, and sweet gum trees.

This is a public garden and it has plenty of resting areas and comfortable chairs that you would find at a friend’s house who has good taste and a backyard garden. There is plenty of garden statuary and trellises and what looks to be an Arts and Crafts tile fountain (with no running water). There’s a garden totem, a wishing tree, and even a Little Free Library.

For the home gardeners, there is a garden shed and their “backyard” of garden stuff including a pile of cardboard, a Bushman water container, and several large compost bins. There’s even a large planter with a beautiful succulent arrangement and another planter that holds the succulent cuttings. It’s exactly what a working garden would look like.

Perhaps what impresses me the most about the garden is the way everything is seamless. The plants chosen are meant to be adaptive to the Southern California region so you will see desert plants intermingling with mediterranean plants. I chose the above picture because most citrus groves don’t have a lovely hedgerow of attractive succulents. You may also find some milkweed, nasturtiums, and matilija poppy growing in between the rows of orange trees.

A lesson can be learned from this little garden established in 2005, what we choose to do with this land can be empty and ordinary, or it can be green and full of life. It can be creative and stir your senses and invite anyone to come and rest and enjoy the garden.

For more info: https://www.arlingtongardenpasadena.org/about/