[photo credit: The Huntington]
Throughout the day, guests can participate in informal drop-in talks from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The program features experts giving tours of the garden’s plant beds and answering visitor questions about the relationship between humans and medicinal plants.
The Chinese Garden, known as Liu Fang Yuan
, spans about 15 acres and preserves a medicinal collection containing nearly 200 rare plants, many not found outside China. Many featured plants appear in “Shennong’s Classic of Medicine” (first to second century C.E.), a foundational text linking historical practice and contemporary wellness.
The Chinese Medicinal Garden opened to the public on May 22, 2024, marking the final piece of The Huntington’s celebrated Chinese Garden complex. “The Cǎi Yào Pǔ
is a place for learning about the relationships between plants and people,” said curator Phillip E. Bloom. He underscored the garden’s unique value: “But it is, I think, the Chinese Medicinal Garden that most powerfully connects the Chinese Garden to the rest of the Huntington as a whole.”
Michelle Bailey, assistant curator, echoed this sentiment: “The deepest purpose for us at The Huntington is to show the long relationship between humans and plants.”
The event may be canceled due to rain or excessive heat.
Chinese Medicinal Garden Open House will run on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. For more information, call (626) 405-2100 or visit https://www.huntington.org/event/chinese-medicinal-garden-open-house. Tickets: Free with general admission.
