Finding the Secret Garden

It’s a tough call whether Lotusland is a garden, a museum or a flight of fancy. Filled with a forest of dragon trees that bleed red sap, Indian lotus plants with leaves as big as elephant ears, and a world-class collection of primitive plants that date from the days of the dinosaurs, it’s probably all three.

“I think Lotusland is the most unique garden in California,” said Maureen Gilmer, a landscape architect and author of numerous gardening books, including the Complete Guide to Southern California Gardening.

“It’s steeped in plants of geometric value, and with colors that are bold and risky,” she said. “You may have to be somewhat sophisticated about gardening to see how profoundly different it is; still, it’s a remarkable achievement.”

This summer, a record number of people can make up their own minds about the place. Santa Barbara County lawmakers recently raised the limit on visitors allowed into the 37-acre estate from 9,000 to 13,500 a year.

Lotusland, which is set among the gated mansions of this wealthy and very private enclave, could easily draw twice that number, but neighbors have been vocal in their opposition to any increase in traffic.

The estate is the creation of the late Ganna Walska, a flamboyant Polish opera singer who died at the age of 100 in 1984. She bought the estate in 1941 and, using the wealth amassed during six marriages, carved out more than a dozen distinct and exotic gardens. After her death, Lotusland became a nonprofit educational institution.

Walska began by dividing her estate into themed gardens, each reflecting her current passions. She had the help and guidance of landscape architects and master gardeners who bent their talents to her vision.

In the lush precision of the Japanese garden, 40-foot-tall birds of paradise shade a carpet of baby tears. Imported stone lanterns dot the hillside. A 10-ton stone bridge spans a koi pond where chunky fish glow orange in the murky water.

A few feet away, more than 100 varieties of aloe in a garden paved with red and black cinders offer startling contrast. A short walk brings one to a crescent-shaped moon pond rimmed with abalone shells. Water trickles through a fountain formed of giant clamshells large enough to bathe a baby in.

A swimming pool thick with lotus, lilies and a bog garden gives way to a cactus garden lined with boulders of rose quartz, crystal and amethyst. Scarlet and gold blossoms the size of trumpets jut out from the spiny plants. Brain cactus nestle into the volcanic soil. Discreet labels show the cactuses’ origins: Brazil, Bolivia, South Africa, Argentina, Zimbabwe and the Canary Islands.

“Dramatic, weird and wonderful--that was madame’s whole philosophy,” said Michael Alden, one of several docents leading tours.

Her philosophy is clearly rendered in California live oaks whose branches hold baskets of enormous staghorn ferns, and in the blue garden planted with blue fescue, blue Atlas cedars and blue Mexican fan palms. Other high points are a fern dell, a collection of rare cycads, and a theater garden made of stone benches and clipped hedges where live performances were held.

Although the property contains a sizable house, Walska all but ignored it. She lived in one room of a small cottage whose French doors opened onto a smooth expanse of rolling green lawn. True to form, the velvety grass bumps into a garden of thorny cactus from Mexico.

How much you learn about Walska depends on who leads your tour. One docent rolled his eyes and declared her life “just a soap opera--it doesn’t interest me,” while another went into detail about her multiple marriages.

“There is so much about her personal life that is so interesting, you could focus an entire tour on that,” said Deidre Cantrell, an executive assistant with the Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation. “And then there is the estate itself, the plants, the designers of the gardens--it would take a long time to learn everything about the place.”

Celebrities are drawn to Lotusland’s fabulous gardens and intense aura of privacy. Famous names often pop up on newsletters announcing new foundation members. Barbra Streisand, who created several extensive gardens in her Malibu estates, helicoptered in last year for a look at Lotusland’s rose garden.

More than 200 docents and volunteers, as well as a small paid staff, keep the estate running. Fourteen full-time gardeners keep it in shape. Guided tours, the only way to see Lotusland, require a reservation. The tours are conducted Wednesday through Saturday, at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The season runs from Feb. 15 through Nov. 15.

Generally, reservations must be made a full year in advance. This summer, however, due to the increase in traffic allowed by the Board of Supervisors, visitors can book tours a month or two in advance. Tickets cost $10 and visitors must be 10 or older. If you become a member of the foundation--a $40 annual fee--you earn some flexibility in reserving a tour time.

“Ganna Walska built herself a magnificent theater set to live in,” Maureen Gilmer said. “And she did live in these gardens, not the house. There’s a saying: Great peace and harmony come when you have a large garden and a small house. Madame Walska obviously knew that.”

Information: (805) 969-9990.