The Most Spectacular Public Garden

Are you interested in seeing

one of the prettiest public gardens around?

If so, you simply must visit

Ganna Walska Lotusland

in Santa Barbara!!!

If you can't go in person,

come join me now on a mini "bloggy" tour...

I went last week (along with my class of 4th grader students).

Autumn in this 40-acre paradise is absolutely amazing!

Even though California is experiencing a

terrible drought, the staff members at Lotusland

have been able to keep the gardens in great shape.

The variety of beautiful and unusual plants is spectacular!

There are 15 main gardens,

including (but not limited to):

the tropical garden, the aloe garden, the topiary garden,

the succulent garden, the blue garden,

the cactus garden, and the fern garden.

They were all a delight to see and experience.

This 40-acre property was purchased decades ago

for a mere $40,000.

It was a private estate.

Upon the owner's death, it was donated

to the Lotusland Foundation.

Now, it is open to the public.

The above photo shows the Butterfly Garden.

Sorry.

It just does not do it justice.

I wish I could blog the wonderful smell...

In addition to the gardens,

Lotusland still has the home, pool, fountains, and

other parts of the original estate.

The home is closed to the public,

however it was fun to see the rest of the place.

There were so many strange, gorgeous plants.

I wish I were better at gardening.

I loved seeing all of the colorful flowers.

There were also unusual fungi and botanical oddities -

as well as a ton of birds, butterflies, and other creatures.

If you are ever visiting the Santa Barbara area,

I hope you will make time to visit this lovely place.

Also, you can visit the Lotusland website at

http://www.lotusland.org/