On the last full day of our Palm Springs trip in April, we visited Sunnylands.
Located in nearby Rancho Mirage, the property houses the former Annenberg Estate. While we didn’t buy tickets to tour the entire estate (including a historic house), we did spend an hour or so walking around the gardens which are free to the public.
As a longtime fan and supporter of botanical gardens, I hadn’t seen one quite like this.
Given the Southern California desert climate, these gardens are heavily succulent-oriented. Here are an array of cacti:
Good Morning!
Watch where you sit.
At the time of our visit, as part of Desert X, the gardens housed an outdoor art commission, Agnes Denes’ The Living Pyramid.
“A monumental step pyramid planted with rows of vegetation native to the region,” it cut a striking figure against the mountains to the east.
In this arid environment, purple flowers practically glow against all of the surrounding earth tones.
After a week of copious palms, it was almost a palette cleanser to see these trees, the yellows popping next to the greens and the clear blue skies. As much as I loved Palm Springs for its architecture, it was sublime to see some of the area’s natural beauty as well.
Haunted Jukebox 