Lotusland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lotusland |
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Lotus plants at Lotusland
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| Type | Botanical garden |
| Location | Montecito, California |
| Area | 37 acres (15 ha; 0.058 sq mi) |
Ganna Walska Lotusland, often called Lotusland, is a special botanical garden in Montecito. This town is close to Santa Barbara, California, in the United States. It's a non-profit place, meaning it's not run for money. The garden covers about 15 hectares (37 acres). It was once the private home of Madame Ganna Walska, a famous opera singer. You can visit Lotusland, but you need to make a reservation first. Tours usually last about 1½ to 2 hours.
History of Lotusland
The story of Lotusland began in 1882. That's when Ralph Kinton Stevens bought the land. He and his wife, Caroline Lucy Tallant, named their new home "Tanglewood." They started a nursery there, growing lemon trees and palms. Over time, they added many other tropical plants. They were among the first people to grow such diverse plants in Santa Barbara.
In 1916, the Stevens family sold the estate to the Gavit family. They came from Albany, New York. The Gavits changed the name of the property to "Cuesta Linda." They added new parts to the landscape and built more garden structures. The main house was designed in 1919 by Reginald Davis Johnson. It was built in the Mediterranean Revival style. Later, from 1921 to 1927, they hired George Washington Smith. He added more buildings and changed parts of the house. His work included the pool house for the water garden. He also designed the estate's unique pink walls.
The beautiful gardens you see today were created by Madame Ganna Walska. She was an opera singer who owned the property. She lived there from 1941 until she passed away in 1984. Madame Walska spent over 40 years designing and building the gardens. She got help from several landscape experts. These included Peter Riedel, Ralph Stevens, Lockwood DeForest, and Joseph Knowles. After her death, Lotusland opened to the public in 1993.
Exploring the Gardens
The Lotusland estate has many different types of gardens. Each one is unique and features special plants.
The Blue Garden
This garden is full of plants with cool, silvery, or blue-gray leaves. You'll see tall Blue Atlas Cedars. There are also Chilean wine palms and blue fescue grass. Other plants include Mexican blue palms and Queensland kauri trees. You can also spot bunya-bunya and hoop pines. Two large camphor trees are also part of this amazing collection.
Bromeliad Gardens
In this garden, bromeliads grow all over the ground. They are nestled under large coast live oak trees. You can also find a branched pygmy date palm here. Other interesting plants include Trithrinax brasiliensis palms. Don't miss the giant ponytail palms, which look very unique.
Butterfly Gardens
This garden is designed to attract butterflies and other insects. It features many different kinds of flowering plants. These plants provide food and a home for these important creatures. It's a great place to watch butterflies flutter by.
The Cactus Garden
This cactus garden has a huge collection of tall, column-shaped cacti. The collection started way back in 1929. There are over 500 plants here. They represent about 300 different types of cacti. The cacti are grouped by where they come from in the world. You can see Opuntia species from the Galapagos Islands. There are also Armatocereus from Peru. The garden even has every known species of the Weberbauerocereus genus. Other plants here include boojum trees and dry-growing bromeliads. Several types of Agave plants also add to the desert feel. Eric Nagelmann designed this garden, and it opened in 2004. More plants were added in 2014 to complete his vision.
Cacti and Euphorbias Gardens
This area features a mix of cacti and euphorbias. One of the most striking sights is a large group of golden barrel cacti. These round, spiky plants are very eye-catching. You'll also see large, weeping Euphorbia ingens plants. They have a unique, tree-like shape.
The Cycad Garden
Lotusland is home to an amazing collection of cycads. There are over 900 of these ancient plants here. The garden has nine out of the eleven types of cycads found in the world. It also has more than half of all known cycad species. This collection includes three Encephalartos woodii plants. These are among the rarest cycads on Earth. They are actually extinct in the wild.
Fern Gardens
This garden is filled with many different kinds of ferns. You'll see Australian Tree Ferns and giant staghorn ferns. These plants love the shade. Other shade-loving plants grow here too. These include angel trumpet trees and calla lilies. You can also find clivia hybrids and a collection of Hawaiian Pritchardia palms.
The Japanese Garden
This peaceful garden has a small Shinto shrine. It is surrounded by Sugi trees and Coast Redwood trees. There's also a beautiful wisteria arbor. Japanese Maples, camellias, and azaleas add to the garden's beauty. Several types of pine trees are shaped in the traditional Niwaki style.
Orchard Collections
- Citrus orchard: This section grows many citrus fruits. You can find oranges, lemons, limes, kumquats, grapefruits, and guavas.
- Deciduous orchard: This orchard has 100 fruit trees. These include peach, plum, apple, pear, persimmon, and fig trees. There are also very old olive trees from the 1880s.
The Parterre Garden
This garden features formal planting beds and brick walkways. There are two central water features that add to its charm. The plants here include neat hedges. You'll also see colorful floribunda roses and cheerful day lilies.
Succulent Gardens
This area displays a wide variety of succulent plants. Succulents are plants that store water in their leaves or stems. You can see Madagascar Palms, Aeonium, Fouquieria, Kalanchoe, Echeveria, Haworthia, Yucca, and Sansevieria.
The Topiary Garden
This fun garden has a huge horticultural clock. It's 25 feet (8 meters) wide! The clock is bordered by Senecio mandraliscae plants. There's also a boxwood maze to explore. A special "zoo" here has 26 topiary animals. These are plants shaped like animals, such as a camel, gorilla, giraffe, and seal. Other plant frames are shaped like chess pieces and different geometric shapes. In 2014, Lotusland received a large gift to help care for this amazing topiary garden.
Tropical Gardens
This section is filled with plants that love warm, humid weather. You'll find orchid cacti and different types of ginger plants. There are also banana plants here. Some are grown for their beauty, like the ornamental Ensete bananas. Others are grown for their tasty fruit, like the edible Musa bananas.
The Water Garden
The Water Garden is home to many kinds of Indian lotus plants. You'll also see various water lily species. These include Nymphaea, Euryale ferox, Nuphar, and Victoria water lilies. There are also bog gardens here. These areas feature plants like taro, ornamental sugar cane, and papyrus.
See also
In Spanish: Lotusland para niños
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- North American Plant Collections Consortium
