Los Angeles—and California as a whole—is a pretty amazing place, botanically speaking. Stick practically any plant in the ground and it’ll grow, hence the palm tree-lined streets and the ubiquitous jacaranda tree bloom. Even though some of us can reach out our windows and pluck an avocado from a tree, a trip to one of the region’s many botanical gardens (among the best things to do in L.A.) reveals vegetation that simply can’t be found on our city streets. We’ve rounded up some of our favorites—broken up by category, like Japanese gardens or museum grounds—from botanical gardens in the San Gabriel Valley to a hidden oasis in a Hollywood Hills park.

While many major venues—including some of our picks on this botanical garden list—are temporarily closed, there are a few much-needed exceptions that we’ve noted below.