BC Living
You’ve Gotta Try This in November 2024
Thankful For BC Farmers This Thanksgiving
Gut Healthy Recipes
5 Tips to Prevent Muscle and Joint Pain When Working a Desk Job
Skincare Products for Fall
Exploring the Benefits of Cold Therapy
Inviting the Steller’s Jay to Your Garden
6 Budget-friendly Holiday Decor Pieces
Dream Home: $8 Million for a Modern Surprise
A Relaxing Getaway to the Sunshine Coast
Exploring Vancouver’s Top Wellness Spas
Great Bear Rainforest
B.C. Adventures: Our Picks for November
Fall Movie and Book Recommendations for Cozy Nights In
Cirque Du Soleil
How to Transition Your Skincare From Summer to Fall
Shopping for Wellness: Essential Products for Relaxation
Local Finds: Cozy Fall Fashion for Your Wellness Journey
Such feelings will indeed come over you when you visit one of California’s most famous gardens, appropriately called Lotusland.
This 37-acre Santa Barbara garden was created by the larger-than-life Madame Ganna Walska, a Polish-born, self-invented beauty who charmed her way through many marriages, collecting substantial financial resources as she went. An “enemy of the ordinary,” she developed her estate as a series of fantastic themed gardens between 1941 and her death in 1984.
These include a forest of dragon trees (Dracaena draco), avenues of dramatic succulents, an outdoor theatre with bizarre sculptures of gnomes, a bedding-plant-decorated floral clock, and – yes – a lotus pool.
While this sounds over the top, it’s in exquisite taste and beautifully maintained. The two-hour tours are by appointment only – visit Lotusland’s website for details or call 1-805-969-9990. Admission for adults is $35.
If you would prefer to tour the garden at your own pace, you might find it worthwhile to take out a $75 membership, which includes two admission passes and the opportunity for self-guided tours. Then you can slip into a dreamlike state and indulge your certain unwillingness to depart.