Descanso Gardens features a wide area, mostly forested, with artificial streams, ponds, and lawns.

The first Spanish governor of California deeded this land as part of a vast 36,000-acre rancho to Corporal José María Verdugo in 1784 for his loyal service.

In 1937, the property was purchased by E. Manchester Boddy, owner of The Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News, and managed as a working ranch, which he called Rancho del Descanso.

[1] He built a two-story mansion of 22 rooms, designed by Beverly Hills architect James E. Dolena.

He also purchased more than 400 acres north of the original property, the source of mountain streams that provide water for Descanso Gardens today.

In 1942, when people of Japanese ancestry were forced into internment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Boddy purchased up to 100,000 camellia plants from two Japanese-owned nurseries in the San Gabriel Valley run by his friends, the Uyematsu and Yoshimura families.

The species native to La Canada Flintridge include deer, mountain lions, birds, snakes, and squirrels.

[2][11] Executive Director David Brown led the 2007 rehabilitation of the Boddy House; he planned to retire in 2017 after 12 years leading the botanic gardens.

The facility was enhanced by the addition of a contemporary structure which doubled the size for exhibitions and with its 12 feet (3.7 m) ceilings allowed larger single pieces of art, completing the rehabilitation of site buildings begun in 2007.

The focus is on work by contemporary artists that portrays themes and subjects relevant to its setting in the Descanso Gardens.

[14] The first exhibit of 2014 included works by over 150 contemporary artists, some entered in a jury competition, others commissioned by the Gardens.

[16] The exhibition involved contemporary photographs of the Descanso Gardens in a video gallery, using the hashtag #Portraitsofthegarden to collect the photos from social media web sites Twitter and Instagram.

[16] In the first half of 2023 the Sturt Haaga Gallery is showing the exhibit SHIKI: The Four Seasons in Japanese Art.

It also includes drink items like coffee, house made hibiscus lemonade, as well as alcoholic beverages.