This book is both an illustrated history of the early years of a now celebrated garden and cultural institution and an intimate and revealing memoir of Henry Edwards Huntington, written by the man who was hired in 1906 to manage the property and landscape the grounds. Included are many historical photographs showing the development of the Huntington estate and the gardens. William Hertrich's personal history of the Huntington Botanical Gardens has been a perennial favorite since its first publication in 1949. This book is filled with memories, anecdotes, and first-hand historical detail and includes more than 150 black-and-white photos, many of them taken by Hertrich himself. William Hertrich was hired as Henry Huntington's landscape gardener in 1905; over the next two decades, the two men designed many of the gardens and plant collections seen at the Huntington today. Upon his retirement as superintendent in 1948, Hertrich set out to write an in-depth history of the early years of the estate in a highly personal account filled with memories, anecdotes, and first-hand historical detail. The Palm Garden Soon after taking up my work for Mr. Huntington, it became evident to me that he was particularly interested in the various types of cocos palms because of their tropical appearance as part of the landscape. I therefore suggested to him the establishment of a palm collection. In discussing the matter, we decided to introduce into Southern California palms from different parts of the world having similar climatic conditions; and we planned to test their suitability as landscape material for home gardens, parks, and street and highway plantings. In 1905 we selected for this purpose four acres of sloping ground bordering on the main drive which was to lead to the proposed homesite. After grading, and installing a water system, the entire area was planted to Lippia repens as a ground cover to guard against erosion. It was about this time that the southern slopes to the west of the planned palm garden were similarly planted, and for the same reason: over 300,000 plants of the Lippia repens were used. We soon found that collecting palms was a very slow process indeed. Some of the material I was then able to obtain locally, i.e., in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. Rarer specimens I found in various horticultural establishments in the eastern states, and a few I obtained from nurseries in England, Belgium, and Germany. Some Asiatic species came from Japan. Used Book in Good Condition