Outside in Northridge

An acre and a half in the southeast corner of the Cal State Northridge campus, started in 1959, holding over 1,200 plant species across California natives, Mediterranean climate beds, cacti and succulents, herbs and an ethnobotanical section, plus four greenhouses. Free to walk into on a weekday. It is small enough to see properly in half an hour, which is the right length for the gap before a curtain.

Mon to Fri, 8:15am to 4:45pm. Closed weekends and university holidays

Five acres of Valencia orange trees along Nordhoff Street, planted in the early 1940s when this was farmland and kept when the campus was built around them. Carved paths run through the rows and students use it for picnics. Volunteers pick the fruit for the campus food pantry, more than 153,000 pounds of it since 2009, and biologists use the grove to study bee populations. It is the last working piece of the agricultural Valley on this side of the 405.

Open daylight hours, no gate and no admission