Purple oxalis (Oxalis triangularis) anchors the group in the tall turquoise pot. From the top step moving down, there’s a ‘Sticks on Fire’ euphorbia, variegated Agave desmettiana, a stripey passalong yucca from Diana/Sharing Nature’s Garden (possibly Yucca aloifolia variegata), Aloe brevifolia, Agave desmettiana ‘Joe Hoak’ (a passalong from Bob/Central Texas Gardening), and ‘Bloodspot’ mangave.

In a square terrazzo pot set in a planting bed, a nearly black ‘Burgundy Ice’ dyckia is brightened by a waterfall of silver ponyfoot (Dichondra argentea) spilling over the edge and rooting into the soil.

The silver is picked up nearby in the stock-tank planter that’s home to an Agave weberi ‘Arizona Star’ and Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’. Behind those leans an ‘Alphonse Karr’ bamboo. Just visible at right is a variegated Agave americana in a pot. And in front of all is a rapidly growing clump of ‘Bright Edge’ yucca. Yep, this has become a spiky, variegated ghetto.

Another of my favorite yuccas is Y. filamentosa ‘Color Guard’, which looks great with anything and grows well in much colder climates than mine (up to zone 4, according to Plant Delights). Here it’s softened with bamboo muhly grass (Muhlenbergia dumosa) and more silver ponyfoot.

Please join me in posting about your lovely leaves of June for Foliage Follow-Up, a way to remind ourselves of the importance of foliage in the garden on the day after Bloom Day. Leave your link to your Foliage Follow-Up post in a comment. I really appreciate it if you’ll also include a link to this post in your own post (sharing link love!). If you can’t post so soon after Bloom Day, no worries. Just leave your link when you get to it.

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By the way, if you follow me on Facebook (and if not, I hope you will), I’m folding my two separate pages — Digging and Lawn Alternatives — into a new Facebook page called, ahem, Pam Penick. Please “Like” my page to enjoy photos of beautiful gardens and lawn alternatives, get notifications of my blog posts and upcoming talks, and just hang out with me and talk plants! I hope to see you there!

Speaking of garden talks, I’ll be in San Antonio on Monday at noon to give a free talk at the San Antonio Garden Center about losing the lawn and gaining a waterwise landscape or beautiful garden. Lawn Gone! book-signing afterward. Please join me! P.S. If that’s during your work day, just bring a bag lunch and come on out.
Where: 3310 N. New Braunfels, San Antonio, TX (adjacent to the San Antonio Botanical Garden)
What: Essentials of Gardening class, hosted by the Gardening Volunteers of South Texas

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

With oversized flowers, this cactus looks like it’s wearing a hat worthy of a royal wedding.

This week my misshapen little ball cactus bloomed too. Hey, do the flowers always match the coloring of the spines? I just noticed that.

It always amazes me that such prickly, inhospitable plants can produce such stunning flowers.

For Bloom Day, here are a couple of other scenes from my garden right now: ‘Colorado’ water lilies in bloom in the stock-tank pond…

…and purple coneflowers in bloom wherever their seeds have taken root.

For more Bloom Day posts, visit meme hostess Carol at May Dreams Gardens. And remember, it’s Foliage Follow-Up tomorrow!

_____________________
By the way, if you follow me on Facebook (and if not, I hope you will), I’m folding my two separate pages — Digging and Lawn Alternatives — into a new Facebook page called, ahem, Pam Penick. Please “Like” my page to enjoy photos of beautiful gardens and lawn alternatives, get notifications of my blog posts and upcoming talks, and just hang out with me and talk plants! I hope to see you there!

Speaking of garden talks, I’ll be in San Antonio next Monday at noon to give a free talk at the San Antonio Garden Center about losing the lawn and gaining a waterwise landscape or beautiful garden. Lawn Gone! book-signing afterward. Please join me! P.S. If that’s during your work day, just bring a bag lunch and come on out.
Where: 3310 N. New Braunfels, San Antonio, TX (adjacent to the San Antonio Botanical Garden)
What: Essentials of Gardening class, hosted by the Gardening Volunteers of South Texas

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Some of the artists had set up colorful umbrellas for shade as they drew.

Others relied on broad-brimmed hats. Either way, this can’t be easy on the knees or back.

The large-scale drawings were amazing. I liked this one, in the style of an old travel poster…

…and this one’s vivid color.

And check out the illusion of 3-dimensionality in this one — incredible! To orient yourself to reality, look for the feet of passers-by in the top of the photo.

An artist’s palette

After admiring the pictures we toured the Old Mission. “Old” is relative in our young country, but the Spanish missions really are old. This one was founded in 1786, and a community of Franciscan friars still live here.

Of course, while a few original walls have been preserved, much of the structure has been reconstructed over the years, like the beautiful golden chapel, which was rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1812 destroyed it.

A large courtyard garden, maintained by volunteers, is fun to explore.

Architectural plants complement the architecture.

This kind of encapsulates Santa Barbara for me: palm, blue skies, and Spanish-style architecture.

The Franciscans provide an opportunity for a little lighthearted fun outside the mission.

Next we visited the historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Constructed in 1926, the courthouse is a big tourist attraction and no wonder. Check out the stunning Mural Room, which hundreds of couples a year book for their wedding ceremonies.

According to the website, “The murals depict scenes from California’s history from the native Indians to the construction of the Mission. The murals along the window wall depict renderings of leading industries, agriculture, minerals and live stock.” The ceiling is beautifully hand-stenciled.

Exploring the echoing, high-ceiling hallways, we discovered that the building is fully open to the outdoors! Inconceivable in Austin’s muggy, buggy climate, we marveled over the open-air design, seen here where a spiral stair leads up to the second floor. Sparrows and other birds, we noticed, had made themselves at home in the hallways and atria.

Walls throughout the courthouse are beautifully stenciled. I neglected to get a picture of the tile work along the staircases, but it’s well worth a look.

A bell tower is accessible via a narrow stair (or elevator partway up), and thanks to a plexiglass window, if you visit on the hour you can watch the bells ring to mark the time. We went all the way up to the viewing platform at the top and enjoyed 360-degree views of Santa Barbara’s tiled rooftops and ocean and mountain scenery. That’s the Pacific Ocean in the distance…

…and the Santa Ynez Mountains over my husband’s shoulder.

I can’t conclude my posts about Santa Barbara without showing you a jacaranda tree in full, purple bloom. I’ve been enamored of these tropical trees since visiting San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a number of years ago. Santa Barbara’s picturesque streets were littered with purple petals as the jacarandas peaked over Memorial Day weekend. What a lovely place to visit, with plenty of natural beauty, exotic and native gardens, and ocean and mountain views.

_____________________
By the way, if you follow me on Facebook (and if not, I hope you will), I’m folding my two separate pages — Digging and Lawn Alternatives — into a new Facebook page called, ahem, Pam Penick. Please “Like” my page to enjoy photos of beautiful gardens and lawn alternatives, get notifications of my blog posts and upcoming talks, and just hang out with me and talk plants! I hope to see you there!

Speaking of garden talks, I’ll be in San Antonio next Monday at noon to give a free talk at the San Antonio Garden Center about losing the lawn and gaining a waterwise landscape or beautiful garden. Lawn Gone! book-signing afterward. Please join me! P.S. If that’s during your work day, just bring a bag lunch and come on out.
Where: 3310 N. New Braunfels, San Antonio, TX (adjacent to the San Antonio Botanical Garden)
What: Essentials of Gardening class, hosted by the Gardening Volunteers of South Texas

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

What a culture shock from the extravagant exoticism of Lotusland, the first garden we visited in Santa Barbara. Arriving at the botanic garden right at opening on a quiet Sunday morning, we had the place to ourselves for a little while, despite the fact that the garden is tucked into a canyon overlooked on all sides by homes on surrounding ridgelines. The rugged, dusty trails, colorful wildflowers brightening tawny grasses, and spreading oaks reminded us of home. But the blue hills looming ahead, redwood trees, and house-sized boulders told us otherwise.

Soon Sunday morning walkers and their dogs (yes, leashed dogs are allowed in the garden, which surprised me) were hoofing their way along the trails too. We guessed that for homeowners in the surrounding neighborhood, the SBBG is like a neighborhood park, and I felt a little envious of them.

An enormous boulder greets you upon entry into the garden. Boulders of this size deserve to be named, and this one is called Blaksley Boulder in memory of the father of founder Anna Dorinda Blaksley Bliss. (Blaksley Bliss purchased the land for the garden in 1926 in partnership with Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and Carnegie Institution, and the garden she founded was one of the first in the country to exclusively feature native plants.) Did this gigantic stone roll down from the surrounding hills, we wondered? The garden’s website answered our question:

The Blaksley Boulder is just one of many huge boulders in the Garden. These boulders are composed of sandstone from the Santa Ynez Mountains. Many wonder how they got here. Amazingly, it seems that they floated here in prehistoric debris flows that likely occur every few thousand years. After torrential rains, and possibly earthquakes trigger massive landslides, the boulders float like corks on top of a high density mixture of water, fine sediment, and rocks. These catastrophic events are recorded in the exposed walls of the canyon where layers of rock and sediment can be seen piled 60 feet high.

Behind Blaksley Boulder stands another impressive specimen, this massive oak tree. That first horizontal limb is as thick as a large live oak trunk here in Austin.

Nearby, a visitor kiosk is decorated with this lovely tiled picture of quail amid wildflowers, with the blue hills of the Santa Ynez Mountains in the distance. Quail, we soon learned, are the unofficial mascot of the garden, heavily represented among the art and souvenirs in the garden’s gift shop.

A few minutes later, we were charmed by the sight of a male and female quail darting along the wildflower trail. I looked hard for a line of following chicks but didn’t see any.

Ah, the wildflowers.

Blazing stands of hot pink and citrus orange mingled with cool swaths of white and lavender to create a colorful mosaic in the wildflower meadow.

We were fortunate to catch the late show of the spring wildflowers that the garden is known for.

Mown grasses in the center of the meadow allow you to get a closer look at the wildflowers and bask in the overall scene: warm, scented air, golden grasses, sparkling wildflowers, and blue hills in the distance (see photo at top of post).

A backlit Salvia leucophylla captured my attention.

Tiers of silvery-gray pom-poms are studded with lavender flowers.

Inside the orange chalices of California poppies, a bee orgy was going on.

Look at those full pollen sacks, and they still wanted more, burrowing in a crazed circle for every grain of pollen. The bees, pollen, and poppies made one sunny, golden circle.

A deep buzzing told me the bees were loving these white poppies as well.

I first thought this eggs-sunny-side-up flower was the Texas native white prickly poppy (Argemone albiflora spp. texana). But the plant tag set me straight: hairy Matilija poppy (Romneya trichocalyx).

I was quite taken with their snowy, blowsy petals and golden centers.

Like clean white sheets on the laundry line

One more look

OK, one more. Done, I promise.

More wildflower beauty

Wine-colored seedpods dangled from small redbud trees at the meadow’s edge, making a pretty combination with sunlit green leaves.

From the wildflower meadow we strolled into a forested section of the garden. This cheeky fellow — a vole, I believe — was popping in and out of a freshly dug hole in the earthen path. We found him cute, but I suspect he must be troublesome for the gardeners.

The enticing but puzzlingly named Indian Steps lead up to another trail. I’ve looked and looked online but can’t find the origin of the stair’s name. Does anyone know?

We continued along the lower path, which followed a rushing stream, and found ourselves in a shady grove of sky-high redwoods. This section of the garden was my favorite, as peaceful, beautiful, and moving as a cathedral.

Since encountering my first at Chicago Botanic Garden, I always have my eye out for council rings. I like the concept: a semi-private, enclosed place to sit with a friend, enjoy the view, and perhaps speak from your heart.

A closer look. This one has a spiraling stone-paver design in the center. A small council ring like this would work in any homeowner’s garden, perhaps with a fire pit in the center.

Golden grasses and wildflowers — reminds me of Austin.

We climbed a trail up the canyon wall for a bit, following the Pritchett Trail, and found a drier, sunnier ecosystem up there as well as a stone bench dedicated to another Pam.

It seemed a perfect spot to rest, and when a passing couple offered to take our photo we said yes. It happened to be our 23rd anniversary that day.

Back on the main trail we admired several manzanitas (Arctostaphylos), their twisting limbs holding up bouquets of green and reddish-gold leaves (new growth, I believe).

I understand they are stunning in bloom. But at this time of year their beauty lies in their cinnamon-colored bark that peels and flakes to reveal the green “skin” beneath.

Another look

Back at the entry gate, we decided to walk across Mission Canyon Road and climb the Porter Trail, which, the garden map promised, offers views all the way to the Channel Islands just off the coast. Wow, the Santa Ynez Mountains on the north and the Pacific Ocean on the east — the SBBG has views like no other. Although the day was getting hot, we climbed the dusty trail, passing stands of pincushiony Our Lord’s Candle (Yucca whipplei).

Spines don’t put me off, as you know.

And once I saw a couple in bloom, I knew I’d be going back to the gift shop’s nursery to buy a 4-inch baby whipplei to take home. (It’s now on top of the retaining wall in my front garden.)

The view from the top (not pictured) was nice but not spectacular, the islands being too far off to see very clearly. But we enjoyed a glimmer of blue in the distance and a shady bench on which to rest.

Souvenir hunters and shoppers, the SBBG gift shop is fantastic, full of beautiful objects and art, many adorned with the signature quail. I was too busy looking to take any photos, sadly, but trust me when I say it’s worth a stop. Also, the garden runs a nicely stocked nursery next to the gift shop, and you can buy many of the plants you admired in the garden. But check those growing zones if you live elsewhere. Those lucky Santa Barbara residents live in a charmed climate.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Lotusland founder Madame Ganna Walska never saw this garden, at least not in this incarnation. The plants were donated in 1999, several years after her death, by her old friend and cactus collector Merritt Dunlap. More than 500 plants and more than 300 species make up the Cactus Garden, which opened in 2004.

Cacti are perhaps the most otherworldly of all plants. Their architectural shapes look fantastic paired with flowering perennials and loose grasses, as you’d likely find them in nature. But here they have only each other for company, and the result is quite surreal. For one thing, they have such textural “skin,” often with glowing spines.

The slender bodies of some stretch toward the sky.

Others creep along the ground, like snakes or leggy, green tarantulas. Check out those frivolous, lipstick-shaped flowers.

Pincushion-like spines, as long as darning needles, cradle starry, jewel-like flowers on some plants.

Chips of shale mulch the cactus planting beds and match the gray gravel paths that wind through the garden.

I just can’t help anthropomorphizing these slender, erect plants, even those in bloom. These all seem to be looking at something to the left.

Gorgeous flowers on such rugged, prickly plants! Do you think these open in the evening? I wasn’t sure why they were closed well before day’s end.

Many gardeners chase after blue flowers, but how about the baby-blue “skin” of these columnar cactus? I absolutely loved the chalky blue of these plants.

A mounded viewing terrace in the center of the garden offers dramatic, 360-degree views of the Cactus Garden. Here’s just one view from the terrace.

I think Madame would have approved of this garden. Like her others, it relies on massing of species for effect and it certainly contains many oddities of the plant kingdom.

And the stunning flowers of summer add the perfect finishing touch.

I hope you enjoyed my Lotusland series. For a look back at the rear terrace, parterre & lemon arbor, click here. A note about visiting. The garden is open only Wednesdays through Saturdays, and you must have an advance reservation for a docent-led tour. Adult admission is $35. I recommend becoming a Lotusland member, which allows you to visit for free and take self-guided tours of the garden. Membership is $75 for individuals and $125 for a family membership — about the same price as two visits.

One more thing. If Lotusland interests you, I urge you to read Gerhard Bock’s Lotusland series (5 posts in all) at his blog, Bamboo, Succulents and More. Gerhard visited in April 2013, and his wonderfully informative and beautifully photographed posts added fuel to my desire to visit.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

A Moorish tiled fountain and rill, on axis with the gate, make a cooling focal point.

The tile work makes me want a Moorish fountain in my own garden.

A solitary potted Agave attenuata ‘Variegata’ (I think) brightens a shady corner.

A wall fountain with cherubs spills into a tiled yellow-and-blue basin, with a flowering vine arching over the whole scene.

A parting glance

On the rear terrace of the house, another cherub wall fountain splashes into a basin tiled with what look like Dutch figures.

But most of the tile work on the terrace is of bull-fighting scenes. This grouping makes a sort of wall mural.

Several sago palm planters are adorned with more of the bull-fighting tiles.

A closer look reveals a humorous element. A matador with a guitar slung across his chest is lifted on a bull’s horns. Another pushes a bull on a rolling cart. Yet another bullfighter sits in a chair and seems to toy with a charging bull.

Stepping off the terrace into the parterre, you encounter long, patterned “rugs” of mosaic pebbles along each side of the brick path. They lead the eye to another Moorish fountain surrounded by dense hedges, terminating in a distant focal point of a succulent planter on a plinth.

There’s a lot going on here!

Earthy swirls and curves

Looking back to admire the long view. Imagine how long it must have taken to lay out this design, and then do it again on the other side of the path.

Neptune stands on a clamshell in the center of the fountain, with a couple of minions behind him.

Exiting the hedged path, you come across another long vista, with this beautiful Moorish fountain and rill — my favorite of all the ones at the back of the house. The long view terminates in…

…a huge, bermed clock planted with low-growing succulents! This whimsical feature overlooks the Topiary Garden, just visible beyond. We didn’t have time for more than a quick look at the shrubby zoo.

Nature displays her own sense of whimsy in Bird of Paradise, doesn’t she?

Off to the side, a long lemon arbor offers a tempting vista and a path toward an orchard and butterfly garden. Short on time, however, we turned our feet toward the sunlit cactus garden — and were rewarded with another otherworldly scene.

Next up: The Cactus Garden. For a look back at the Aloe pool, Blue Garden, and Bromeliad Garden, click here.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

A kidney-shaped, ice-blue pool is the cool centerpiece of the hot-colored Aloe Garden. Having inherited the pool with the estate, Madame Ganna Walska painted the bottom white, lined the perimeter with pearlescent abalone shells, and installed two fountains made of giant clamshells. Starfish-shaped aloes stretch their arms across rocks around the pool, contributing to an under-the-sea ambiance.

More than 170 kinds of aloes combine to create an aloe jungle, with torchlike flowers…

…and drought-stressed foliage in shades of orange and red.

Reddish lava rock and red brick (next image) form the paths that run through the garden.

Those hot colors contrast so beautifully with the glacier-blue pool. It would be tempting to soak one’s feet if it weren’t for the barrier of abalone shells.

Across the main drive you come to the Blue Garden, which is perhaps the most recognizable of all Lotusland’s gardens. It made the cover of Martha Stewart Living last year.

Kelly green lawn meets cool gray-green in a line of mature Agave franzosinii, many of which were in bloom during our visit. These will die, as agaves do after they bloom, and will be replaced, presumably, with smaller, younger specimens.

I’m glad I was there to see the giant franzosiniis, their sinewy arms creating a living wall alongside stone posts topped with spherical finials, which mark the entrance.

Step through the gateway and you enter an enchanted space, silent, magical, all color mysteriously toned down to blue-grays.

Gray gravel edged with blue slag glass — so gorgeous! — leads you into an alien landscape where warm tones have been leached away.

Blue-green palms lift their fringed fingers overhead. Tufts of blue fescue, intersected by ribbons and pools of the succulent blue chalk fingers, carpet the ground. Moody blue atlas cedars (not pictured here) stand in droopy clusters amid the palms.

Fan dance

The blue sky and hills above Santa Barbara add to the color scheme.

Up close, blue-green pots of succulents add the finishing touch.

Exiting across the great lawn, a parting glance at the Blue Garden shows the “wall” of Agave franzosinii beneath towering palms. Look up into the live oaks immediately overhead, however, and you see what looks like jellyfish flying through the trees.

Planters of donkey’s tail (Sedum morganianum) are suspended from branches, topped with clear plastic domes (to keep squirrels off? to keep the plants free of tree debris?) that resemble flying saucers.

You’ve entered the shady, moist Bromeliad Garden, a ground-carpeting understory of fibrous leaves with cup-shaped centers that hold water, many with glossy, burgundy leaves or fuchsia blooms.

Little surprises await here too, as elsewhere in the garden, like this stone lion with a playful mane of Spanish moss draped across his head.

A long view reveals a fantastic contrast between low-growing, strappy bromeliads and the cylindrical, spiny towers of cactus in the distance.

Spanish moss drips from the trees, as if we’re in the Deep South. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn I was in Florida at Naples Botanical Garden.

But we’re still at Lotusland, at the rear of the main house. The back terrace beckons with tiled planters of huge sago palms.

Next up: The rear terrace, parterre, and lemon arbor. For a look back at the House Garden with cactus and euphorbia, click here.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Do you?

Weeping Euphorbia ingens droops like melted wax on a guttered candle.

I could never describe their effect better than Gerhard Bock at Bamboo, Succulents & More, who visited in April and wrote:

“I remember these weeping Euphorbia ingens from the very first photo of Lotusland I ever saw, but the dramatic effect of their monstrous presence is even more pronounced when you stand in front of them. These aren’t ornamental plants designed to beautify your garden; they are extraterrestrial life forms come to Earth to keep an eye on us.”

I love the soft, chalky colors of house and plants in this doorway vignette. I didn’t get IDs for most of the plants I saw. I think this is a euphorbia too, though at first I mistook it for a fencepost cactus. It really is amazing how similar euphorbias and cacti can look, although their origins are half a world apart, cacti being native to the New World, euphorbias to the Old.

Those soft colors are accented with the black-maroon drama of Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’.

Argentine saguaro (I think) towers over a mass of golden barrel cactus — like a quilting bee’s worth of pincushions strewn across the ground.

I find golden barrels irresistible for their beach ball shape and lemon-lime coloring. Seeing so many planted together — hundreds, I expect — was awe inspiring.

No lawn here! Walska went for a spiny swath of columnar cactus instead. Don’t the smaller ones in front remind you of sock puppets?

Directly across from the house, a strange, spiny forest towers overhead and offers a deeply shaded, fairy-tale like hideaway beneath its canopy.

These are dragon trees, Dracaena draco, a relative of the common houseplant grown to prehistoric size under the Santa Barbara sun.

These handsome finials invite you to explore the Dracaena underworld…

…although the tiled wall’s detailing, including this fanciful dragon fountain, tempted us to stay in the sunlight.

Another aeonium sprawls atop the wall.

Equally dramatic was this copper tillandsia “tree” along the side of the house.

I’ve gone backwards in my post, starting with the drama of the house rather than with the approach drive, which is equally amazing, not just for the massing of unusual plants but for the cleverness of the overall planting scheme: one side of the driveway is planted with cacti, native to the Americas; the other side is planted with lookalike succulent euphorbias, native to Old World locales like Madagascar and South Africa. Pictured here is the cactus side of the drive.

And this is the euphorbia side. Evolving separately half a world apart, cactus and euphorbias developed similarly to adapt to extreme heat and aridity: tall, columnar forms that reduce horizontal exposure to the sun; small leaves, if any, that slow water loss; spines for defense against browsing animals; and water-retaining bodies.

It’s a perfect example of convergent evolution. As you approach the house, you’re walking the dividing line between New World and Old World, with plants on either side that are long-distant cousins.

These somewhat resemble golden barrel cactus, but I think they may be a type of euphorbia. Beautiful, aren’t they? (If anyone knows these plants well enough to supply an ID, please feel free.) Update: Thanks to Jenny Stocker for the ID — balloon cactus, Notocactus magnificus — and for pointing out that euphorbias tend not to have dramatic blooms like this, but cacti do.

I love the textures and contrasting forms in this vignette, plus that rosy cap on the columns (again, cactus or euphorbia?).

A closer look — fascinating.

I believe this is Agave gypsophila in flower, its bloom spike arching over the path that leads (behind us) down to the famous abalone-edged pool.

Next up: The aloe pool, Blue Garden, and Bromeliad Garden. For a look back at my introductory post about the Theatre Garden, lotus pond, and Japanese Garden, click here.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Lotusland is theater. It’s designed to thrill, seduce, and transport you. And, boy, was I thrilled, seduced, and transported during my visit over Memorial Day weekend.

Lotus pond — no blooms yet. The lotus bloom later in the summer.

This Santa Barbara, California, garden, which had topped my gardens-to-see list for several years, is home to an extraordinary assemblage of exotic plants, seemingly the weirder the better. Imagine Sissinghurst’s billowy flower borders and tasteful, classic ornamentation. Now try to imagine its exact opposite: Dr. Seussian plants with spiny, “melted,” creeping, hairy, starry, or columnar forms and textures.

Massed Agave attenuata along the estate’s former main drive

And now imagine masses of single species lining a drive or comprising a mini-forest.

Imagine decorative accents like a giant clamshell fountain, softball-sized chunks of jewel-like slag glass, and stone “grotesques.”

Stone figures — “grotesques” — add humor and whimsy to the Theatre Garden.

Lotus pond

The place is a magicland of one woman’s imagination, built through her love of excess and her desire to have the best collection of the most unusual plants that money could buy.

The late Madame Ganna Walska, Polish-born Hanna Puacz, reinvented herself numerous times during her 96 years, segueing from aspiring (but panned) opera singer to social climber (she married six times and amassed a fortune along the way) to well-known socialite to eccentric garden designer and avid plant collector. Lotusland, the 37-acre pleasure garden she created after giving up on husbands, is her inspired creation in the hills of Santa Barbara. Upon her death in 1984 she bequeathed her estate and garden to the Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation, which maintains and continues to add to the garden, and which offers tours by appointment to the public.

Snarled in Memorial Day traffic, my husband and I arrived late for our self-guided tour (only available to members; non-members must tour with a docent, and everyone must have a reservation), but the welcoming staff was very accommodating and invited us to explore right up until gate-closing time. Still, I felt the pressure of not-enough-time-to-see-everything (the garden would be closed the rest of the weekend). With only an hour and a half at our disposal, at my urging we dashed past portions of the garden to view the charismatic spaces I’d longed to see after reading other bloggers’ posts about Lotusland.

Buddha framed by a Japanese maple in the Japanese Garden. Although beautiful, I felt the Japanese Garden was out of place at Lotusland due to its admirable restraint. Restraint has no place in the rest of the garden.

The images in this introductory post comprise some of the eye-catching vignettes that made me pause in my mad dash toward particular gardens. Stay tuned for the bizarre, the wondrous, and the exoticism of Lotusland proper. Up next: The house garden with cactus and euphorbia.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

I’ll write about the gardens and a few other things we saw soon, but today I want to treat you to a virtual visit to Potted, an L.A. garden shop (their tagline is “Indoor Style for Outdoor Living”) that I’ve long wanted to see. We popped by for a quick visit on our way to the airport on Tuesday morning.

Located on a busy commercial street in a neighborhood of tiny bungalows, Potted has a small street presence.

But once you walk through the gate, the place is so chock-full of tempting garden decor, furniture, and potted plants that it seems to double in size.

First let’s stroll around the outdoor patio displays. I immediately spotted this grouping of Potted’s City Planters on a turquoise wall.

Nearby, on a wood-slat screen, hung several City Planters in white. These are so striking. As you may remember, I had a local welder friend copy the design for me on a smaller scale, but I was still tempted to buy an original one anyway, especially the vertical style.

Pretty pots and interesting plants abound.

Egg-shaped ModPod birdhouses make a pretty collection. And that’s a red tractor seat on the wall, stuffed with tillandsias.

True to its name, Potted is known for its potted succulent arrangements.

Colorful pots, a smattering of colorful aquarium gravel, and vintage cast-offs, like this faucet handle, give them a playful look.

Look closely at this trio of potted plants and you’ll notice a small, red motel chair as accent in the middle container.

Color-block with sea urchin (bottom right)

Pure kitsch — I love it.

Around the side of the building, a large selection of colorful pots adds a tempting rainbow of color.

In a potting workshop in back…

…you can pot your own plants or have a staff member do it for you.

I love these colorful tiled pavers set into the concrete patio.

Similar ones are for sale, inviting you to jazz up your own patio space with a little color.

Step inside the store and a colorful mix of furniture and accessories greets you. Doesn’t it make you want to slap a fresh coat of paint on all your outdoor furniture — or replace them with these stylish pieces?

A Crayola box of metal bistro chairs hangs on the wall, while round, retro chairs and a tiered Fermob side table make a cool seating arrangement on the floor.

Striped Esther Pottery shares space with books about succulents and houseplants.

I absolutely coveted this tile-top table — not for my patio or deck but for my kitchen. Colorful Steel Life planters display a few tillandsias but would also make fun fruit bowls.

A wider view reveals a green hutch and porcelain, candy-striped hanging lamps. Love! I’d like to see Austin’s nursery shops step up their game with more home-and-garden furniture and contemporary-retro pots and decor.

Here’s the team that makes Potted such a great shopping experience: Cristina, the potted-plant arranger; Mary, co-owner; and Karen, who was working the register. I missed meeting Annette, Potted’s other co-owner and the store’s ambassador thanks to her blogging for Potted, but she was out of town the day we visited.

Annette and Mary generously donated a “grass” pillow for my book party giveaway in celebration of Lawn Gone!‘s release. Check out their online store if, like me, you live too far away to shop regularly. You might already be familiar with some of their products, like the famous Circle Pot. I have an orange-red one myself, and I would have been tempted by the new chartreuse color that’s on order, but it wasn’t in yet. Ah well, next time!

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.