Sunday, May 24, 2026

Altadena Heritage’s Golden Poppy Awards Return to a 1915 Craftsman Garden

The annual ceremony honoring the community’s front yards comes back today after a year without celebration

For more than two decades, members of Altadena Heritage have walked every street in town each spring, looking for the front gardens that give something back to the neighborhood. Today, for the first time since the Eaton Fire, they will gather to announce what they found.

The 2026 Golden Poppy Awards & Garden Party takes place today, Sunday, May 24, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at 280 W. Crosby St., a single-story Craftsman courtyard house built in 1915 for the Ruth family, according to Altadena Heritage’s records. The home was designed by Edgar Dorr, who had worked for the Heineman Brothers architecture firm. The property, which sits on nearly an acre of land, has previously hosted Altadena Heritage events, including the organization’s annual holiday gathering. The event includes food, drinks, live entertainment, winners of the organization’s Springtime in Altadena Phone Photo Contest, and a classic car showcase, according to the event listing.

The Golden Poppy Awards, launched in 2004 by board member Paula Walker, recognize gardens that “give to the street” — front yards that enhance their neighborhoods through beauty and environmentally sustainable design, with an emphasis on drought-tolerant and native planting, according to the organization’s website. Each year, board members divide Altadena into electoral districts, tour every street, and assemble a shortlist. A judging committee then selects four winners, who receive bronze plaques to display in their gardens for two years.

No Golden Poppy ceremony appears to have been held in 2025. The Eaton Fire, which began on January 7 of that year in Eaton Canyon, destroyed more than 9,000 structures across Altadena, according to Cal Fire, and killed at least 19 people. The fire was fully contained on January 31 after burning 14,021 acres.

This year marks the awards’ return to an in-person garden setting — a format that has been the program’s signature since its early years, though it was also interrupted in 2020 and 2021, when the ceremony moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic. When in-person celebrations returned in 2022, more than 230 guests attended, according to the organization’s event archive.

Altadena Heritage, originally founded as a committee of the Altadena Town Council in the mid-1980s and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1989, describes itself as a volunteer-based organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the architectural, historical, environmental, and cultural heritage of the unincorporated foothills community, according to its website. Since the fire, the organization has focused on helping the community rebuild with fire-resilient designs while preserving Altadena’s architectural character, according to its homepage.

Tickets are $30 and available through Eventbrite, where the listing showed 79 attendees registered as of this weekend. Active Altadena Heritage members receive a promotional code via email for 50 percent off, according to the organization’s website. There are no refunds. For more information, contact Altadena Heritage at altadenaheritage@gmail.com or visit altadenaheritage.org.

The bronze plaques, the live music, the food in someone’s garden — all of it returns today to a house that has stood on Crosby Street for 111 years, waiting.