This little gem is located in Pasadena, California originally designed in the mid 1930s. The garden has recently been restored, remaining true to its original pre-war design. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The garden is well planted with a variety of traditional Japanese plants including Camellia japonica cultivars, a lovely pond, two waterfalls, and teahouse.

When an atomic bomb destroyed the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, it was predicted that nothing would grow in the ruins of Hiroshima for 75 years. The trees were scarred and blackened all around Hiroshima. Therefore, when green shoots were found on the burned trunks of some 170 trees, people were encouraged. Hope for recovery of the trees as well as for the country and its people was stimulated.

Green Legacy Hiroshima, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Tokyo Yoneyama Yuai, are spreading seeds and plants of the ‘Hibaku Jumoku’ (“A-bombed trees”) throughout the world. The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden was chosen as the home of a second generation “A-bombed camellia” that descended from one of the trees considered lost after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This Camellia japonica cultivar has not yet bloomed in the garden but is expected to produced red flowers. Twenty-seven countries have received these plants with two located in the United States. The other is in Saint Louis. The plants symbolize the resiliency of the human spirit and the need for peace as well as the interdependency of people around the world. The Storrier Stearns garden joins others in promoting the message of world peace represented by this camellia that survived the atomic bomb.