Descanso Gardens gave me the best painting day I've had all year

Spent yesterday morning at Descanso Gardens with my portable easel and came home with three small studies I actually like. That almost never happens. Usually I get one decent start and two muddy disasters.

The camellias are fading but the roses are just starting to open, and there's this in between light right now where the green isn't fully saturated yet. It's softer. More forgiving for someone like me who tends to overwork warm greens until they look like plastic. I sat near the oak grove and painted the same path three times because the light kept shifting and I kept chasing it. Third attempt finally caught that cool morning shadow before it burned off.

If anyone else paints plein air out there, do you find Descanso easier to work in than somewhere like the Huntington? I always feel a little more relaxed there, less like I'm performing for the crowd. Maybe it's just the tea garden being steps away.