Descano Gardens unveils Nature's Table, edible landscape with harvest donated to food banks

Nature's Table Debuts at Descanso Gardens
New edible landscape features herbs, vegetables and a "pie garden"

This summer, along with thousands of rose blooms and welcoming oak tree shade, Descanso Gardens will have another horticultural stop for visitors who come to the famed La Canada botanical garden - a land of squash, raspberries, basil and tomatoes to name only a few.

Dubbed Nature's Table, the new permanent edible garden at Descanso is planted with fruit trees and seasonal vegetables along with herbs, edible flowers and other tasty accoutrements. New plantings - small at first - are starting to fill in and soon will envelope the area with vines, bushes, shrubs and greenery.

One area of Nature's Table is referred to as the "pie garden" because it contains pumpkins, rhubarb, blueberries and other potential pie fillings.

As a garden, Nature's Table continues on the success of a previous exhibit at Descanso, Fritz Haeg and the Edible Estates, which dramatically demonstrated the benefits of an edible garden versus a typical grass lawn.

The design of Nature's Table came with help from students enrolled at Cal Poly Pomona's Landscape Architecture Design Studio who used the idea and space as a "real world" class project.

All food harvested from Nature's Table will be donated to a local food bank.

About Descanso Gardens
Established as a public garden in 1954, Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, near the interchange of the 2 and 210 freeways. A popular setting for weddings, parties and meeting in addition to being a location for numerous feature films and television shows, the Gardens are open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Christmas Day. Parking is free. Admission fees are $8 for adults; $6 for seniors and students; $3 for children 5 to 12, and free for members and children 5 and younger. Fees for classes and programs include Gardens admission.

For information, call (818) 949-4200 or visit http://www.descansogardens.org/. Descanso Gardens is accredited by the American Association of Museums.