i grew up in southern california, so i’m not sure why i’ve never heard of lotusland. i discovered this amazing place via diane keaton’s pins and got curious about where this lotusland was — and lo and behold it’s in my own very own backyard in santa barbara — about two hours north of los angeles. lotus land is the historic estate of Madame Ganna Walska, a polish opera singer who up until the last few years of her life, was the feisty, eccentric “head gardener” of Lotusland. she died in 1984, leaving her jewel of a garden to the Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation.
“My home in Santa Barbara is known as Lotusland. During the last 25 or more years I have greatly expanded the 40 acres of this property, devoting myself exclusively to establish and increase the already valuable collection with great variety of species, such as Palms, Cycads, etc., from all around the world in a picturesque display and setting.” – Madame Ganna Walska
i don’t know about you, but a pink palace surrounded by cacti is right up my alley, so i’m planning on visiting lotusland and paying homage to madame ganna in the very near future! you can make reservations here.
Those cacti are to impressive!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
This place is amazing! I can’t believe that I had never heard of it, especially growing up in Southern California. I’ll have to visit sometime in the near future.
-Helen
http://www.sweethelengrace.com
37 acres of botanical nirvana!
Whoa, that’s amazing! Like living in the desert garden at the Huntington! :)
i need to visit the huntington in spring this year – i haven’t been since design school!
Don’t wait, go to the Huntington now, aloe and agave are starting to bloom. Give ’em a little rain and they are so grateful!
This reminds me a lot to Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech, that I could see from my appartment when I lived there.
Here’s a picture:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Jardin_Majorelle.jpg
oh very cool! thanks for sharing!
I really need to visit this location next time I’m in Santa Barbara. The colors and the cacti are just simply sweet. Love it. Thank you for sharing!
xx BeyondBasicBlog.com
Awesome!! I totally want to visit, thanks for posting this one :D
i first heard of lotusland on a documentary series called ‘around the world in 80 gardens’ with english gardener monty don – excellent! he also visited the jardin majorelle in the series, but one of my favourites was roland emmerich’s garden in LA. if you get a chance, you should look up the series, i bet you’d enjoy it. x
oh thanks! i think i’d love that and will look for it!