A rose is a rose is a rose.

It is very rare to visit a garden and have the owner point to a rose and say, “that’s my rose – the one they named after me.”

While taking a walk last week, we stumbled upon a drop dead beautiful garden. The celebrity owner (wait for it, i’ll get there) saw me admiring and invited us in to take a look. What followed can only be described as garden porn.

The garden belongs to rose enthusiast and 1960s bombshell Julie Newmar, the original Catwoman. Ms. Newmar was the most gracious of hosts, happily touring us around her lush, jewel box property.

In addition to more than 75 varieties of roses (including, of course, the “Julie Newmar”), the garden boasts myriad plants including succulents, ferns, hydrangeas, clematis, orchids and so much more. It felt like there was a discovery to be made around every corner.

Maybe the prettiest orchid ever? Maybe.

Not sure how I’ve survived this long without seeing a cluster of stag ferns growing out of a tree.

Julie herself was probably the dreamiest part of this whole ultra dreamy scenario. A true inspiration – it was very clear that she lives for her garden and her garden lives for her.