“What he told me was he kept thinking that there was something missing from his life. There was something from years ago that just wasn’t present,” said Jim Henrich, curator of the Los Angeles County Arboretum’s Plumeria Festival, recalling why fragrance chemist Arturo Martinez donated the grove’s first trees.
Martinez, who moved from Cuba to Los Angeles, discovered discarded plumeria branches that reminded him of flowers from his childhood.
The 11th Annual Plumeria Festival will be held Saturday, July 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Arboretum in Arcadia. The grove on Tallac Knoll now includes more than 100 trees and is recognized as the largest public collection of plumeria in the western continental United States.
Festival events include guided tours, lei-making workshops, care demonstrations, and talks by experts.
“I could neglect them, forget them, not be that caring, and yet they give me these beautiful, fragrant flowers,” said Martinez, now president of Joar Labs in Glendale.
Live Latin-rock alternative music by Man Boy Brown, food trucks serving Cuban, Mexican, Hawaiian and Central American cuisine, and more than 20 vendors will fill the garden.
Arboretum members may enter at 7:30 a.m.; general admission is $5 to $15.
Children under five enter free.
Volunteer Diana Donnellan, who began growing plumerias in 2001, led a 2014 effort to expand the grove.
Frank McDonough serves as botanical consultant.
Plumerias, native to the Caribbean and Central and South America, vary in scent from citrus to peach—or even pizza.
“It’s the same with food: There are certain memories that everybody has,” said Henrich.
Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia. For more call (626) 821-3222 or visit https://arboretum.org/events/plumeria-day-2025/2025-07-19. Tickets: $5 to $15. Members enter early at 7:30 a.m.; general admission starts at 9 a.m. Children under five enter free.
