Lotusland

On Saturday I joined a tour through Laguna Nursery with Ruben Flores to Lotusland in Montecito by Santa Barbara.  Lotusland is a spectacular private botanical garden that is open to the public by reservations.  The story of the gardens and Ganna Walska is quite interesting and the grounds are fantastic.  We had a great guide and the weather could not have been more perfect.  The metal figure on this page was not at the gardens but at Laguna Nursery.  I sketched it after my mimosa and before getting on the bus.  It was a long day but well worth it and it felt good to get out there and do a little sketching again.

The actual tour moved too fast to sketch as we tried to cover the 18 acres but after lunch we had some time so I managed to get a few things down. This page is a compilation of some things I found interesting.  The bird is from the Japanese garden, some plants from the bromeliad area and the interesting shaped flat stones were  almost planted themselves as they stood upright is their own garden.  Fabulous!

Robert Bateman Sketchbook
5" x 7"
Pen and Watercolor