Monday, November 11, 2019

The "other" bromeliad garden at Lotusland...

Back to my visit to Lotusland last April...

The courtyard between the main house and the smaller pavilion (where Ganna Walska actually lived) was where we ate lunch during the Bromeliad Summit and where we exited to when breaks were called.

I imagine regular visitors could walk up here too, but I never have. I was seeing this for the first time.

Just outside the courtyard area was a bromeliad garden. I've spent plenty of time admiring the larger bromeliad garden (post yet to come) but had never seen this one...

It turns out that this was the first bromeliad area developed at the garden.

History of Bromeliads at Lotusland: Madame Ganna Walska enjoyed collecting exotic plants and in the 1950’s, bromeliads were not readily available. She purchased most of her bromeliad collection from Hummel’s Exotic Gardens in Carlsbad and from Fritz Kubish, owner of Jungle Plants and Flowers in Culver City. In the late 1960’s Kubish was hired to surround her residence in the Pavilion with bromeliads. This area later evolved into the Upper Bromeliad Garden. In the late 1970’s, overcrowded bromeliads were relocated by Charles Glass into the area now known as the Lower Bromeliad Garden and the collection was later rearranged and added to by Bill Paylen, who also designed and planted the Fern Garden. In 2004, the Dunlap Cactus Garden opened to the public and is home to several terrestrial bromeliads. (excerpt from the materials we received that day)

Pacific Northwest girl that I am I can't fathom being able to leave these plants outdoors year round. It just blows my mind...

There are 372 Taxa of 31 different Bromeliad Genera at Lotusland.

I waited and waited for that lady to move on. She seemed to be daring me to take her photo.

Off the back of the house...

If I had lion statuary you know I'd being doing this same thing.

Moving on...

Agaves! (there should always be agaves, whenever possible)

Sorry, I couldn't resist another.

Tomorrow we'll continue just a little further down that path and visit another "new to me" bit of Lotusland.

Weather Diary, Nov 10: Hi 55, Low 48/ Precip .01

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

16 comments:

  1. The manes on the lion sculptures! I noticed them right away, so cool! And the metal piece on the wall, it almost makes me want to buy Tillandsias again. The shots of the house make it look so wonderful. Also -- why do people have to be such dicks?

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    1. Ya that curvy tillandsia piece on the wall is pretty fabulous. There's another one in today's post.

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  2. Love those lion manes! While those bromeliads are pretty great, it was the tile work that really caught my eye. What an incredible place to live!

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    1. The tile work! I love it. I swear I was meant to live in SoCal...

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  3. Gorgeous hacienda, I like the second pool even better then the first. The shady path lined with bromeliads is fantastic... love those red blooms(?) in the 4th picture from the end.

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    1. I took a few photos of those red blooms, but it was so shady! My camera just wouldn't focus.

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  4. With all the Spanish moss, this looks remarkably like southern Florida... except for the agaves, of course. Love the lion's manes.

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    1. Santa Barbara, the Southern Florida of the West Coast...

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  5. I'm most impressed by how perfect the individual bromeliads look. I've planted some of mine in the ground but, after several months, they don't look nearly that pristine.

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    1. Weather? Raccoons? What do you think is the cause?

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  6. That garden at the back of the house is always in such deep shade when I have visited it's hard to get good photos-but I have shot of the lion too-probably taken the day before yours. I think we were one day apart.

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  7. It must be nice to plant the Broms in the ground. They have such great impact when massed together.

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  8. The amazingness of this place just never ends...

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  9. Now, I need a lion statue. The "other" garden looks like it would be heaven on a hot autumn day compared to Ganna's sun blasted little patio.

    The number of bromeliad rosettes make offsetting Agaves look lazy by comparison. Such happy plants!

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