=Descanso Gardens is a 160-acre urban oasis 12 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. This accredited museum of living collections includes the largest camellia collection in North America on 20 acres; a 30-acre forest of Coast live oaks; 5.5-acre Rose Garden; Native Plant area; Japanese Garden; lilac garden, streams, and lake; the Sturt Haaga Gallery; the historic Boddy House; cafe, gift shop and free parking.

Descanso Gardens is the former private estate and camellia plantation of E. Manchester Boddy, publisher of the defunct Los Angeles Daily News. Boddy bought 165 acres of native oak forest in the 1930s and hired botanists to create camellia and rose gardens and to hybridize lilacs to thrive in warm-winter climates. He provided camellias to the cut-flower industry. Boddy sold the land in 1954 to the County of Los Angeles, which contracts with the non-profit Descanso Gardens Guild, Inc. for management. The Gardens attract nearly 300,000 visitors each year from around the world. Descanso Gardens was fully accredited by the American Association of Museums in 2003.