Huntington Desert Garden, Botanical garden in San Marino, United States.

Huntington Desert Garden is a 10-acre botanical garden in San Marino, California, part of The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. It holds more than 5,000 species of cacti, succulents and other desert plants from around the world, with agave, aloe, terrestrial bromeliad, cactus, crassula, euphorbia and fouquieria collections. Columnar Cereus cacti form much of the planting structure, and the African section is filled with succulent Euphorbia.

Henry E. Huntington disliked cacti after prickly pear encounters during railroad construction, but curator William Hertrich persisted until he agreed to a desert garden. Huntington then built a rail spur to haul rock, soil and plants by the carload; a 1908 trip to Arizona filled three railroad cars. The 10-acre garden, holding over 5,000 species, became one of the Huntington's botanically most important collections.

The garden serves as a place where visitors encounter plants from desert regions around the world and learn how they survive in harsh climates. Walking through the different sections, you notice how these species have adapted to extreme heat and dryness in their native lands.

Advance reservations are recommended, especially on weekends, and visiting early in the day offers better light and fewer crowds. Wear comfortable walking shoes as the paths involve slopes and uneven terrain throughout the garden.

Some specimens from Madagascar in the collection are over a century old, demonstrating how botanists have successfully maintained desert plants across generations. These ancient plants are living proof of the garden's long-term commitment to preserving rare species.