Enchanted Forest of Light at Descanso Gardens

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Ancient oaks lit from below, flowers blooming in colors that do not exist in daylight, and a mile of garden path that stops feeling like decoration somewhere around the third installation. Descanso after dark in December turns into something close to a dream, which is a strange thing to say about a botanical garden and is nonetheless what people say when they come back out. It is unhurried and genuinely artful, closer to living sculpture than to holiday lights, and the laser show at the end resolves into what looks like falling snow. Timed entry keeps the paths from ever feeling crowded, which is the quiet reason this works where so many light displays do not. Come early in the season before the best nights are gone, wear a real coat, and let one of the prettiest hours of the year unfold one glowing garden room at a time. Bring the family, bring a date, bring somebody who has been indoors too long. Some of it will be too pretty to photograph. Let that be fine.