From Japan to Italy, this California park explores the world's cultures through their gardens.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

World's largest collection devoted to one fruit.

Once strictly off-limits, this lower level housing curious and priceless vehicles of the Petersen Automotive Museum is now open to the public.

A nursery specializing in strange and beautiful succulents and cacti.

The L.A. Zoo has a secret garden of rare bootleg cycads, a palm specimen dating back 280 million years.

Her final resting place was intended to be modest and private, but the power of her popularity continues to draw visitors.

Dozens of lights dangle from the branches of what may be the brightest tree in Los Angeles.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

A faux European lane smack dab in downtown L.A.

A world-class observatory in the California desert.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

Acres of natural wonders left behind by a socialite-turned-gardener.

In a city filled with Frank Gehry buildings, one stands out as one of the architect's weirder works.

A bigger-than-life pun that has become a beacon of altruism.

A ghost town at the airport is now a refuge for blue butterflies.

This massive redwood tree has a hole in the base big enough to drive through.

Hundreds of trees made from glass bottles make up this forest on Route 66.

California's own medieval Italian castle, authentic down to the 300-year-old iron maiden in the dungeon.

Travelers exchange letters with woodland creatures at this mini post office.

Rainbow-hued local gem in Venice.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.