Move over, poppies. Roses are having a moment in Southern California

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Saturday, May 25. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

• Stop and smell the roses at these L.A. area gardens
• Who supplied Matthew Perry ketamine? An investigation aims to find out
• 24 of the best cookies in L.A. to crush your sweet tooth
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

May is the best time to bask in a rose garden. Here’s where to find the best ones

May gray and subsequently June gloom might linger for longer than we’d like this year.

But that doesn’t mean you should avoid going outside to smell the roses (literally!).

California’s state flower, the poppy, isn’t having a superbloom this year. Right now the rose is having a moment.

Roses have been in bloom since late March, but in May they really start to pop. Abundant sunshine and mild weather in Southern California make for an ideal climate for rose gardens, with their vibrant colors and intoxicating fragrances.

The blooms flourish from spring all the way through the beginning of winter.

Not only are roses great to look at, they’re also natural mood boosters.

Karen Haney, who teaches horticultural therapy at UCLA extension, told Times contributor Adam Markovitz, “Roses give us a wide range of sensory experience that we can use to improve our mood,” noting that the kaleidoscopic colors and textures can actually engage our brains to reduce anxiety.

Luckily for Angelenos, you have from now until mid-December to soak in some of the most beautiful and relaxing rose gardens in the L.A. area.

Adam put together a list of seven L.A. gardens where you can stop and smell the roses.

Here are just a few rose gardens Adam highlights:

Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum rose garden

The rose gardens at Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum.

(Adam Markovitz)

A rose garden bigger than the one at the White House? That’s what you’ll experience at the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum, with 300 blooming rose varieties including historic bushes and modern ones such as the eye-catching Ketchup and Mustard rose (red and yellow) and the yellow George Burns with its citrus-like fragrance.

Exposition Park Rose Garden

Known as the largest free, public rose garden in L.A., you’ll see more than 19,000 blooms filling 166 rose beds across seven acres, with plaques identifying every variety.

As Adam notes, at Exposition Park you’ll find towering pink-and-white Unforgettables that stand more than 6 feet tall, Rock & Roll blooms that look like tiny action paintings with streaks of red and white pigment, swirling baby-pink Falling in Loves and so many more.

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

(Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times)

At the Huntington, you’ll find a sprawling collection of extraordinary roses — which makes up a single section of the museum’s 130 acres of gardens.

In the rose garden, you’ll find labels with information about the many blooms including Huntington’s 100th, a yellow and pink Floribunda hybrid named in honor of the museum’s centennial in 2019.

Rancho Los Alamitos rose garden

A photograph of the rose garden at Alamitos.

(Adam Markovitz)

Located in Long Beach, Rancho’s four acres include sprawling gardens for cacti and native plants, but roses have a particularly tranquil position on a tiled terrace in the garden.

The rose garden holds a few dozen plants, including the Los Angeles rose, which became the first Southern California rose to win the coveted Bagatelle prize in Paris in 1918.

The week’s biggest stories

Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of “The Invention of Lying” in Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2009. The actor died in 2023 of the acute effects of ketamine, a drug sometimes used to treat depression.

(Matt Sayles / Associated Press)

Matthew Perry investigation

• Perry’s fatal ketamine use is under criminal investigation by the Los Angeles police and Drug Enforcement Administration.
• Who supplied Perry ketamine? An investigation aims to find out.

Campus unrest

• “Denied”: UC fails to get a court order to stop academic workers’ strike; union hails decision.
• A man was arrested in an attack on UCLA pro-Palestinian protesters.
• Four takeaways from UCLA Chancellor Gene Block’s testimony on campus antisemitism and protests.
• “I got a job, I got class”: Why Cal State L.A. isn’t roiling with protest.

Diddy’s assault video

• Despite apology, Sean “Diddy” Combs faces peril after video shows him attacking Cassie Ventura.
• Combs was repeatedly “physical” with Cassie and Kim Porter, an ex-bodyguard says.
• Why some see hypocrisy in Combs’ apology over Casandra Ventura attack.
• Combs seen on video chasing, kicking, dragging then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura at L.A. hotel.
• Combs apologizes for attack on his former girlfriend revealed in 2016 video.

Memorial Day weekend

• Don’t go into the ocean at these Los Angeles County beaches this Memorial Day weekend, experts say.
• California to have a mild, cool start to the weekend, but warming trend will come.
• Traveling for Memorial Day? Expect 3 million on the road and gas over $5 a gallon.

This week in sports

• Why the A’s 30-year commitment to Nevada has a “Get Out of Vegas Free” card.
• How UCLA’s Chase Griffin became “the face of the athlete voice of NIL.”
• Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani buys La Cañada Flintridge mansion from Adam Carolla for $7.85 million.
• The scandal that brought down Donald Sterling finally gets the Hollywood treatment.
• Is Caitlin Clark behind WNBA’s new popularity? Angel Reese says it’s more than ‘just one person.’

More big stories

• A rift grows in Europe over recognizing Palestinian state.
• The magical California state park that doesn’t allow visitors.
• Illegal hostels are popping up in L.A. neighborhoods, to some residents’ ire.
• As more Californians fall behind in making debt payments, one group stands out.
• Skip the DMV visit. You can now complete these services online.
• There is a new deadline to get the Real ID. Here’s why you need one.
• The 2024 box office is terrible. But Imax’s big-screen appeal is a bright spot.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

(Pablo Delcan / For The Times)

A neighbor with a secret: Mom killed young son, hid out in L.A. apartment for a year, police say. Dejaune Anderson was charged with murder in the death of her son, whose body was found in a suitcase in 2022. She went on the run, hiding in North Hollywood for a year.

More great reads

• Where’s prom? Hollywood clubs, studio lots, museums and definitely not the gym.
• A UCLA doctor is on a quest to free modern medicine from a Nazi-tainted anatomy book.
• Column: The brilliance of ‘Bleach blond bad built butch body.’
• Caitlin Clark marketing boom is celebrated but also draws questions of race and equity.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

Dillon Beach is one of the few communities that will be allowed to grow its short-term rental market under Marin County’s new ordinance.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 🌊 Looking to vacation on the California coast? Marin just made it harder.
• 🍪 24 of the best cookies in L.A. to crush your sweet tooth.

Staying in

• 📺 “The Beach Boys” is a sentimental documentary that downplays the band’s squabbles.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for marinated feta with spice-roasted tomatoes and grapefruit.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.

How well did you follow the news this week? Take our quiz.

(Times staff and wire photos)

What actor feels her voice has been copied for a new version of ChatGPT? Plus nine other questions from our weekly news quiz.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor

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