Many years ago, my boyfriend Matt B. told me about Lotusland, a beautiful botanical garden in his…read morehometown of Montecito. I assumed he had plans to take me--like why bring it up and not take your relatively new girlfriend?--but if he did, he certainly took a while to implement them. He married me first, then waited until we had two kids before buying tickets, for a Wednesday afternoon last month.
I guess it used to be hard to get tickets here, and even now, you have to plan in advance, as it's only open part of the year and the hours are short and limited. Tickets are also expensive, running $70 apiece. If you're local and likely to go more than once a year, you might want to get a membership.
Lotusland is a remarkable place, and I greatly enjoyed this long deferred date. The property covers 37 acres in a residential part of Montecito, where it was once just some eccentric rich lady's house (her name, a stage name, was Madame Ganna Walska). The reason the hours are so restricted is that the neighbors are Montecitans, perhaps the nimbiest clan on the planet. The location does add to the magic, I admit, the sense of quiet and seclusion as you walk the grounds.
Everything was easy once we arrived. The parking lot was right by the entrance, and there were both maps and docents ready to help get us oriented. The docents were volunteers, I believe, and very friendly and helpful. One of them saw us wandering aimlessly near the entrance, searching for the stairs to the rest of the gardens, and walked with us to show us the way.
The gardens were incredible--gorgeous, of course, but also vibrant and strange. A lot of the plants were fully Seussian, wild and whimsical. The water garden in particular was unlike anything else I've ever seen, with these enormous lotuses and lily pads like rimmed dinner trays. I also enjoyed the quirky swimming pool bordered with seashells and the silly topiary garden. But nothing was more impressive than the extraordinary range of plants. Pre-historic cycads and funny-looking bromeliads. Dracena trees, cousins (or maybe ancestors) to the little potted one we have in our house, allowed to grow freely into giants with clustered branches like maitake mushrooms.
It took us around an hour and a half to make our way through the gardens, a bit faster than the two hours suggested for self-guided tours. (We are, to be fair, a bit younger than the average visitor, despite my husband's procrastination.) We had a wonderful time, stretching our legs and seeing some spectacular sights. Better late than never, Matt, and now I look forward to going back.
