Descanso Gardens

They don’t taste just like chicken, but the serpents taking over Descanso Gardens this Sunday are guaranteed to make your mouth water if you’re a fan of classic Cobra Roadsters. Descanso Gardens will hold its first ever Cobra Roadster Show — Serpents in the Gardens — from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive in La Cañada. The show will feature 14 classic Cobra cars, as well as activities for children and adults, including a “snake hunt” where kids can answer trivia questions and win one of the about 350 Hot Wheels car prizes, and a reptile show by Joe Python and the Reptile Family, beginning at 1 p.m. Cost is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, $3 for children ages 5 to 12, and free for children 4 years old and younger.

August is a great time to visit the shady urban oak forest, splashing streams and vibrant flowers at Descanso Gardens. In addition to all that, there are plenty of exciting and educational things to do at Descanso in August. All fees include gardens admission. Aug. 14 | L.A. Flower District Walking Tour | 7 a.m. | The hour is early but the colors, fragrance and hustle-bustle of the flower district will give you a great morning rush. Professional floral designer Ray Tucker will lead this walking tour of the area's premier resource for growers, importers, suppliers, wholesalers, distributors, floral designers and retail florists.

Surrounding families' favorite women with fine food and millions of flowers on Mother's Day weekend has become a happy tradition during Descanso Gardens' Spring Festival of Flowers. Roses, geraniums, music and elegant brunches will be part of the celebration at the Gardens both Saturday and Sunday, May 8 and 9. Sumptuous brunches by Patina will be served amid acres of roses, with seatings at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and noon both days. On Sunday, Carol Tatum will entertain with harp music from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Under the Oaks Theater.

"Illuminating Trees" will decorate the landscape and set the tone for Descanso Gardens during the 2005 Holiday Festival. Beginning on the evening of Friday, Dec. 9, the festival will continue through Sunday, Dec. 18, with music, festive shopping venues, two family nights, an elegant dinner party and a family holiday brunch. Of course, there will be plenty of time to enjoy the landscape and the company of Santa Claus, making Descanso a destination for anyone looking for a memorable approach to the holidays.

Artist Vicki Thomas has been showing her watercolor works at Descanso for 13 years. This month she's adding another La Cañada Flintridge location — a sushi restaurant — to her list. When a friend of hers told Thomas about La Cañada restaurant Toku Sushi, he said that the food was exciting but the walls bland. When Thomas visited the Japanese restaurant, she discovered that her friend was right and sat down with owners Julia and Olivia Noh to see how she could remedy the situation.

Happy sounds of calliopes and fairground organs will fill the air at Descanso Gardens April 23 and 24. This two-day Organ Rally, a favorite old European custom, will entertain visitors as part of the Descanso's annual Spring Festival of Flowers. Music from a festive and decorative array of organs will fill the gardens from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day. Owners, many in costume, will play antique and hand-built fairground organs of many designs and origins. All the organs at the rally are privately owned.

The Los Angeles Rose Society will host its Fall Rose Show on Saturday, Oct. 21 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Descanso Gardens in the Van de Kamp Hall at 1418 Descanso Dr. in La Cañada Flintridge. Admission to Descanso Gardens and their International Rosarium is $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and $2 for children ages 5 to 12. The Rose Show and ample parking is free with admission to Descanso Gardens. For more information about Descanso Gardens, call 949-4200.

Easter Weekend at Descanso Gardens will be filled with laughing children hunting for eggs and happy families enjoying sumptuous brunches and spring flowers. The annual Easter Saturday Egg Hunt, April 7, will find children, armed with baskets and high expectations, joining one of seven hunts throughout the day. Families will want to arrive early to get the first-come, first-served basket-tickets for the hunt time of their choice. Each basket costs only $4, they are not available until that morning and demand is high.

Slow, relaxed movements of tai-chi will be taught at Descanso Gardens during a 10-session winter class that will meet 8:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays, Jan. 16, through March 20. The program includes deep breathing techniques to regulate and balance the body, mind and breath to circulate and strengthen one's chi (energy). Instructor Laura Gloucester says that, for the practitioner, the program helps bring health to the body's internal systems, organs, muscles and joints, and also helps release stress and create a state of well being.

Parades of costumed children, country fair animals, antique farm tractors and of course, a plethora of PUMPKINS will be part of Descanso Gardens' two-day Pumpkin Junction Festival Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 28 and 29. Special activities include opportunities to learn to play a harmonica and chances for art scholarships at the K-12 Public Programs at Art Center College of Design. The action-packed event, filled with photo ops for camera-toting parents, will include: Pumpkin Parades ?