The teahouse roof in Descanso's Japanese Garden is covered in blue tiles shipped from Japan. The architect Whitney R. Smith designed the building, and the garden around it opened in 1966. Sixty years later, that one acre under the coast live oaks is the common thread in nearly everything Descanso Gardens has scheduled between now and early January. It runs through the gallery, the daytime bloom calendar, the October lantern nights and the 10th season of Enchanted.

The anniversary has no single date. Descanso has spread it across the whole season. For anyone who lives a few minutes from 1418 Descanso Drive, the best way to see it is in order, over several visits.

A Garden the Community Built Itself

According to Pasadena Now, the Japanese Garden opened on June 3, 1966. Landscape architect Eijiro Nunokawa designed it. The local Japanese American community paid for it, and volunteers built it. Descanso credits the project to years of work by a dedicated group. That group included Descanso Guild founder Mrs. Forrest Kresser "Judge" Smith and board member Frank Kuwahara.

The garden kept growing after it opened. In 1969 a minka farmhouse designed by architect Kenneth Masao Nishimoto was added. The grounds combine several traditional forms: stroll garden, stream-and-pond garden, tea garden and karesansui, or raked gravel. Every plant is native to Asia. The list includes camellias, azaleas, black pines, mondo grass, flowering cherries and Japanese maples.

The rest of the season grows from that plant list.

The Anniversary Began Indoors, in June

The first anniversary event opened in the Sturt Haaga Gallery. "Sound of Water: Feminine Expressions of Fluidity" opened June 20 and runs through January 3, 2027. Its curator is Meher McArthur, a Japanese art historian based in Pasadena. The show features six artists:

• Emiko Aida
• Miya Ando
• Yumiko Glover
• Mineko Grimmer
• Yuko Kimura
• Ayomi Yoshida

Descanso held a celebration on September 18 for members and La Cañada Flintridge residents. It had koto and ikebana with Saeko Kujiraoka Zirkelbach and Kaz Kitajima, a set by DJ Rosie Yasukochi, poet Naomi Hirahara, taiko group Kishin Daiko, calligrapher Kuniharu Yoshida, and an origami station run with the Japanese American National Museum.

That evening is over, but the exhibition is still up. Its January 3 closing date lands in the middle of Enchanted's run. That gives you a reason to time a daytime gallery visit before the holidays take over.

October and November Belong to the Japanese Garden

The anniversary makes the most sense in daylight, because this is the Japanese Garden's season. Descanso's bloom guide lists sasanqua camellias in the Camellia Forest and the Japanese Garden in October and November. It lists chrysanthemums in the Japanese Garden and the Courtyard in the same two months.

The sasanquas start the camellia year, but they aren't its peak. Descanso says its camellia collection blooms from early autumn into spring, and the biggest display usually comes in January and February. If you walk the Japanese Garden now and come back after New Year's, you'll see both ends of the same collection.

Fall color comes after the sasanquas. In November and December, the guide lists foliage across the gardens from sycamores, birches, cherry trees, crape myrtles and Chinese pistache. It also lists golden ginkgo in the Ancient Forest and along the Promenade. The guide lists roses through October, so this month is the last overlap with the roughly 1,600 roses in the five-acre Rose Garden. The bloom guide describes a typical year, and actual timing depends on the weather.

Carved Fills the Oak Grove and the Labyrinth First

Carved runs nightly through November 1, from 6 to 10 p.m., with timed entry and limited capacity. Some preview coverage over the summer listed slightly different dates. Descanso's current listing of October 2 through November 1 is the one to plan around.

This year's headline is Alexander Reichstein, an artist from Helsinki, in his first U.S. exhibition. He has filled the labyrinth with life-size, hand-worked wire figures coated in UV-reactive paint. Two other changes come from inside the garden. Bobolito's "Rhizome" has moved to the Oak Grove. Guy Louis, Descanso's train technician, designed and built three new train cars for the event.

For the first time, Carved will hold trick-or-treating on Halloween. It's included with an October 31 ticket.

The Oak Grove matters for the rest of the season. Carved puts "Rhizome" there in October, and in November Enchanted moves Tom Fruin's luminous houses into the same grove. The same stand of oaks will host two different installations, a few weeks apart.

Enchanted's 10th Season Brings the Koi

Enchanted Forest of Light runs from November 22, 2026, through January 9, 2027. This is its 10th year. Lightswitch, the studio that creative-directs and produces Enchanted, is adding a laser installation on the Main Lawn that ends in a "snowfall" finale. HYBYCOZO and Tom Fruin are both back. Favorites like Flower Power and the Ancient Forest are also returning.

The anniversary's connection to Enchanted is Giant Koi. The installation will appear in the Garden of Good Fortune to mark the Japanese Garden's 60th. Descanso hasn't said who made it. In the plan for the whole season, the koi are the after-dark version of the plant list that started in 1966.

From December 2 to 6, the Holiday Market fills the Main Lawn with handmade jewelry, pottery, botanical gifts and plants. Daytime hours are 1 to 4 p.m., and evening hours are 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Daytime garden admission or a membership gets you into the market, and so does an evening Enchanted ticket. If you go in the afternoon, you can shop and then walk out to the ginkgo and the late-season foliage before the lights come on.

The Season, in Order

Counting forward from mid-October, the anniversary season runs like this:

1. Now through November 1. Carved runs nightly, 6 to 10 p.m. Sasanqua camellias and chrysanthemums are on the daytime bloom calendar.
2. October 22. Residents of La Cañada Flintridge get free daytime admission from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the same day as the city's 50th-anniversary gathering at Olberz Park. It's an easy day to see the Japanese Garden and "Sound of Water" without paying admission.
3. October 31. Carved's first Halloween trick-or-treat.
4. November and December. The bloom guide's peak months for fall foliage and golden ginkgo.
5. November 22. Enchanted opens, with Giant Koi in the Garden of Good Fortune.
6. December 2 to 6. The Holiday Market on the Main Lawn.
7. January 3, 2027. "Sound of Water" closes.
8. January 9, 2027. Enchanted's final night. Camellias are heading into their usual January and February peak.

What the Two Night Events Cost

Carved and Enchanted use the same prices for 2026. Timed tickets cost more or less depending on the date and time you choose.

Membership lowers the price of both events, but it doesn't get you in free. Carved also has no separate members-only night on its schedule. An Anytime ticket costs $85 for a nonmember, compared with $52 for the most expensive nonmember timed adult ticket. The extra $33 pays for flexibility. That can help when your plans for a weeknight in December are still up in the air.

One more practical point. A daytime visit gives you more of the anniversary itself than either night event does. The gallery show, the sasanquas, the chrysanthemums and the teahouse's blue tiles are all daytime sights. The Giant Koi is the anniversary's only appearance after dark.

If the Japanese Garden's 60th has you thinking about the history of your own Tudor, Spanish or Mid-Century home in the foothills, Addora Beall would be glad to talk it through with you. Schedule a Personalized Consultation.