Lotusland Santa Barbara

Fern Garden at Lotusland, Santa Barbara

Madame Ganna Walska was an eccentric polish opera starlet with a penchant for marrying rich (an apparently repeatedly), taking morning swims in the nude, and a fascination with the occult and the bizarre. Needless to say she sounds like an awesome old bird and I wish I could have attended one of her famed seannce soirees back in the day. She founded the vast estate now-known as "Lotusland" in 1941 and used the grounds, her money and her connections to create a lush fantasy land of gardens.

The grounds feature 17 themed gardens over 37 acres and house some rare and fantastical plants - inclouding the last known pair of "bachelor" primordial trees in existence in the Cycad garden.

My favorite of the gardens is of course the fern garden- a whimsical arrangement of ferns, mosses and mushrooms.

However the namesake garden on the property is the lotus garden- planted in an old swimming pool. I have never been lucky enough to catch the loti(?) in bloom. However I will be doing a tour of the garden in March so maybe this time around....

I promise to take lots of photos!

Lotusland Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara International Orchid Show Coming Soon!

CalOrchid display at past orchid show

Spring is in the air in Santa Barbara as the days are growing balmy and my new creamy cymbidium is opening it's blooms (photos soon!)  Spring also means a special time for flower-lovers in SB: less then a month to go to the SB International Orchid Show at Earl Warren!  

The show includes judged categories, flower arranging and fantastical displays by local orchid collectives.  Some displays are over 40 feet long and the whole showroom is filled with the heady scent of these truly magic plants.  

My favorite display is always the miniature orchid case - a beautiful terrarium in it's own right! I promise I will take many photos!  

March 20-22, 2009  - SB International Orchid Show

Terrarium in Vase

Zero week old terrarium in glass bud vase.  

I just planted the specimens before I took this photo and the arrangement is still very messy and very wet.  I hope to swab out the bottle once it dries out a bit.  The fern was not the healthiest-looking in the batch but I was feeling impatient and wanted to plant a specimen with fronds already formed.  

Impatience in terrarium-making nearly always ends in disaster.  The old adage "a stitch in time saves nine" is completely true when it comes to bottle gardens.  I can't tell you how many bottles I hastily planted only to have to empty and start from the beginning again down the road due to some oversight in the planting process.

Gaviota Wind Caves Hike

The Gaviota Wind Caves is an intermediate hike near the coast about 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara proper.  The area was burned in a brushfire about 5 years ago and the native plants that require sunlight provided to the lower levels of the brush are thriving this time of year.  The caves are carved out of sandstone by the salty ocean air and there is beach access about half a mile from the caves.  The unique combination of sandy beach bluff, elevation and protection from the wind provides a unique little ecosystem for local plants.  Many of the caves are big enough for several people to sit in and it's a great place to picnic. 

I found this plant growing at the foot of the caves.  Looks a lot like my spike moss but it is less translucent and more stiff.  I put some in an incubator terrarium to see how it handles the conditions but as it was growing in very dry powdery sand I am not sure it will like the soil in my terrariums.

Check out the full album of photos from the hike here.