Vacation 2015 - Lotusland : Lower Bromeliad

 Bromeliads are monocot flowering plants that are extremely beautiful - and Lotusland has an entire area devoted to them.

 The most famous bromeliad is the pineapple, though most of these type of plants don't like a lot of water.

 No I did not amp up the hue or saturation in Photoshop - this photo is untouched.  The orange was outrageous!

 Not sure what this is hanging from the tree.

We are in Lotusland area 19 in this post.

Vacation 2015 - Lotusland : Theatre Garden

 The theater garden has Ganna's collection of antique stone figures from Galluis, France that she collected shortly after World War II.

 They are called the "grotesques" since they are thought to be fashioned after the Gobbi engravings (aka Grotesque Dwarves) by French artist Jacques Callot in the 1600s.  The exact origin of the figures in the garden is unknown.

 Being a warm day, our guide allowed us to sit and rest at this point while she explained Ganna Walska's life story.  It is very interesting - google it.

 Some of the trees that normally provide shade to this area have died and their replacements are still maturing, so the area is in transition right now.

We are in Lotusland area 17 for this post.

Vacation 2015 - Lotusland: Shade Palm Garden

 To tell you the truth, my record-keeping is rather messy in this area.  I'm not sure which of these photos is from the Shade Palm area, and which are from the main path.  Maybe it really doesn't matter.

 In any case, these are some very beautiful settings of palms from several areas of Lotusland.  Enjoy.

 Gana saw blue glass fragments one day and researched where they came from.  It came from the Arrowhead Spring Water company, she discovered.  The glass you see lining the pathways is left over glass from their kiln firings.

 She was so enamored with it she bought a train car full of it.  Pieces are still for sale in the gift shop.

 Getting ready to leave the palms for another area.

The photos in this post are from various areas of Lotusland, but some are from the Shade Palm Garden at number 18.

Vacation 2015 - Lotusland : Succulent Garden

 Let's head over to the Succulent Garden.

 This tree is huge!

 A view of the Main Lawn from the Succulent Garden.

The photos in this post are from area 20 in this map.

Vacation 2015 - Lotusland : Cactus Garden

 I typically barely even notice cacti,  but after viewing the cactus collection at Lotusland they have now skyrocketed on my list of appreciated plants.

 Let's take a walking tour!

 Merritt Dunlap donated this collection of cacti to Lotusland in 1999.  He was a long-time friend of Ganna's, and intended to donate them when he passed away.  After thinking about it, he decided to donate them early so that he could enjoy them in their new setting before his death.

 Merritt grew about 40 percent of these cacti from seed.

 This 3/4 acre setting was designed by Eric Nagelmann and contains about 300 cacti species.

 I fell in love with this section of the gardens, and therefore have posted virtually every photo I took.  Enjoy!

The photos in this post are from area 14 on the map.