Christmas Gardens of California 
THE SUNKEN GARDENS AT PASADENA OF ADOLPHUS BUSCH 
away into the distance and lost itself in the forests. 
Perhaps grass is particularly welcome to Californians, 
as illustrated by the miles of blue-grass and Bermuda 
lawns to be found everywhere in the towns mentioned. 
If an examination of all the places which appeal to 
the artistic eye is impossible, one may glance en pas¬ 
sant at some of the nooks and corners of Southern 
California gardens which are instinct with charming 
features, the gardens that are refined and cultivated, 
as are certain men and women. Such nooks are 
found on the place of the Bishop of Southern Cali¬ 
fornia whose home. Fig. i, stands above the Arroyo 
Seco, in Pasadena. The house, one of fine design, 
commands a splendid lawn with old Australian 
eucalyptus trees here and there, and a comprehen¬ 
sive view of the arroyo, a river of verdure which 
winds its way down from the mountains. 
From the front of the house in winter the white 
peaks of the Sierra 
Madre may be seen 
over the mass of 
green and overhang¬ 
ing the real, \^ild 
garden of Southern 
California, Fig. 2. 
the poppv beds, 
which comprise 
acres, indeed miles 
of the yellow bell- 
shape Eschscholtzia, 
which extend along 
the slopes of the 
Sierras; characteris¬ 
tic of the land of 
gold, presenting, a 
blaze of color so pro¬ 
nounced that it has 
been seen twenty 
miles away. 
It is interesting to watch these flowers, as at night, 
indeed as early as four o’clock, they begin to close, 
coming out again when the sun appears; hence the 
gradual disappearance is seen at night and often won¬ 
dered at by those who do not understand it. The so- 
called poppy is not confined to these upper slopes but 
is found everywhere in rocky barren places. The 
slopes it loves best are most uninviting,—semi¬ 
washes where the gravel is coarse, yet converted into 
a field of the cloth of gold which has become a mecca 
for countless throngs of tourists. There is a sump¬ 
tuous “poppy car,” and the globe trotter is landed in 
the very heart of the poppy field by an electric car. 
The poppy has been planted along the nooks and 
corners of the Pacific Electric road between Pasadena 
and Los .Angeles and in midwinter when the rains 
have been early, the line is a band of gold, deep 
and ruddy, whicb winds its way down from the 
mountains, a re¬ 
markable and dis¬ 
tinctive feature, 
! not to say unique. 
At certain seasons 
these poppies are 
seen on the desert, 
presenting a re¬ 
markable appear¬ 
ance. 
In some of rhe 
Pasadena and Los 
Angeles gardens in 
s Li n n y n o o k s one 
may see the remark¬ 
able honey plant. 
Fig. 3, a column 
eight or ten feet 
high, the upper por¬ 
tion a mass of small 
old-fashioned pink 
FIG. 2—POPPY FIELDS—HUNDREDS OF ACRES OF FLOWERS 
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