My sister beat me to Lotusland
My sister and her partner vacationed in Santa Barbara recently. Afterward on the phone, I asked how her trip was and mentioned that there’s a garden in Santa Barbara that I’d love to see. She slyly said, “I bet we saw it.” Oh, they did—and envy reared its head! I pumped her for details. She promised pictures and said it was very interesting, but the 2-hour tour was about one hour too long. What?? Did I mention that she’s not a gardener? But she still got to see Lotusland before I did!
Lotusland is a theatrical fantasy of a garden I’ve been hungering to visit for years, since seeing pictures of it on blogs like My Back 40 (Feet) (where Chuck mentioned that the 2-hour docent tour moves much too fast to absorb the garden) and Danger Garden (where Loree agonized that she had only 2-1/2 hours to see everything). OK, I’m razzing my sister a bit here, but it’s only because I’m extremely envious of her visit. She did generously share her lovely photos with me—these are all her pictures—giving me yet more impetus to get my butt out to southern California to see this place for myself.
Lotusland is 37 acres of exotic and unusual plants collected and whimsically amassed by Madame Ganna Walska, a Polish opera singer, socialite, and wealthy divorcee who created the gardens over 43 years.
Lotusland became a nonprofit botanical garden after her death and opened to the public in 1993.
Her house remains, along with its Dr. Seussian foundation planting of euphorbia…
…and cactus. Lotusland is well known for its desert-plant collections.
But it has a softer side as well, represented here in the Theatre Garden as well as in its butterfly garden, Japanese garden, water garden, topiary garden, and more.
Even agaves can be soft and lush, as shown in this path-side swath of Agave attenuata.
My husband just walked by and saw me gazing at Lotusland’s website. “Planning a trip?” he asked with a chuckle. I wish. One of these days…
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
You should try to fit in Ruth Bancroft’s cactus garden in California too. Saw it on a Victory Garden episode .
Yes, that one’s on my list too, Barbara. —Pam
There were two gardens I wanted to see on my brief visit to California last year – this one and Descanto (?). Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to see either one of them.
Aw, that’s a bummer. Maybe next time, Phillip. —Pam
I love the aisle of lemon trees. What a beautiful way to frame a view. Makes me wish I was there!
Me too! —Pam
Well, Pam, I guess you got “one degree closer” to Lotusland via your sister! Love the photo of the barrel cactus!
One degree is not close enough, Jocelyn. I really need to plan my own visit. —Pam
I see that photography talent runs in the family, those are fine plant photos for a non-gardener. I can’t wait to read all about your visit when it finally happens.
She did take nice photos, didn’t she? I really enjoyed seeing the garden through her eyes. —Pam
Wonderful garden and great photos to share. It’s been a while since I was in Santa Barbara so Lotusland wasn’t open then, I’ll have to plan a trip back.
Several excellent gardens to visit in the area, Huntington Gardens is about two hours away and the Getty Museum is between them.
Thanks for the tips on other gardens in the area, Shirley. —pam
I want to go too. What a place. Those cactus and succulents are huge. I love that allee with the lemons dangling.
You’d have a lot of inspiration there for your cactus paintings, Lisa. —Pam
So many gardens, so little time…
So true, and such an insufficient travel budget. —Pam
OK- I need to talk about another winter trip out to CA and we aren’t waiting for the Longhorns to play in the Rose Bowl this time. To think we did all those gardens in Ca and never went up to Santa Barbara. Now let me see. Can I grow my lemons that way, I wonder! Fabulous.
If anyone can do it, you can, Jenny. But I am surprised you’ve not been to Lotusland on all your journeys out west. —Pam
Abracadabra Acrostic
WOW! GOTTA GO!
When?
October?
Winter?
G
O
Tuesday?
Thursday?
April?
G
O
Wouldn’t a bus tour for the Texas Bloggers be awesome?
Jeanette
Fun acrostic, Jeanette. A bus trip to California though? Boy, that would be a long ride. It would be good company though. —Pam
Pam, you really do need to see Lotusland, and no, two hours is not nearly enough. The desert garden at the Huntington is a nice complement, and while you are there, the rose garden is also very worthwhile. The Ruth Bancroft garden is also choice but farther away in the East Bay area. Whenever I go back to Lotusland, I hope to schedule guided tours on two successive days. Happy gardening, Peter
Two tours is a great idea, Peter. I’d like to have one guided and one unguided though. —Pam
Pam, I remember when this garden was on the cover of Fine Gardening magazine. I wanted to see it then and still do. gail
We need a Santa Barbara Garden Bloggers Fling, don’t we, Gail? —Pam
Lotusland is on my list too! Very Jealous.
It sounds like a lot of us want to make a pilgrimage there. —Pam
Beautiful photos. Lotusland is stunning. It has changed a lot since I was there years ago. My Father sold the Madame a lot of Cactus plants and made trips from Arizona to Santa Barbara to plant them for her. We stayed in her guest house and played all over Lotusland. It was amazing!
Sandi, what a great experience that must have been! Lucky you. I hope to make it out there one day. —Pam