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Home , Lotusland, Rose garden

BLOOMING

Luxuriant public bursting with exotic are a legacy of philanthropists past, their botanical brilliance and architectural eccentricity a perennial drawcard for Southern California.

WORDS MARINA CHETNER

Lotusland PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY

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Lotusland Cold Spring Road, Montecito. (805) 969 9990. lotusland.org (reservations required) The grand dame of gardens takes its name from the sacred flower that grows on its grounds. Lotusland When Polish-born opera singer Ganna Walska (above, in 1957) moved onto the property in 1941, she enhanced the existing gardens with CALIFORNIA DREAMING conjures up images of a lush landscape layered an avant-garde design that showed off her with a mélange of plants, from the exotic bird of paradise to the ubiquitous flamboyant yet sophisticated style. After her Mexican fan and Canary Island date palms, which line the streets and appear death in 1984, Lotusland was left to the Ganna in countless Hollywood movies. While not indigenous, their ornamentation Walska Lotusland Foundation, and the first scheduled tour took place in 1993. For more and tropical appeal capture the charm of the Southern California aesthetic. than two decades, docents have guided the During the golden age of American gardens (1890-1940), Southern public through the 10ha gardens, where orchid California looked to the rest of the world for horticultural inspiration, especially cacti dangle from coast live , rare the latitude-sharing Mediterranean, whose influence remains paramount. (which cost Walska her jewellery collection) Landowners were lured to the booming region and its magnificent climate, surround a koi-filled pond, and a circus of 26 their bold displays of wealth immortalised in magnificent manses and topiary animals circle a 7.6m-wide, working cultivated gardens that were grand expressions of their personalities. Oil horticultural clock. There’s also a whimsical magnate John Paul Getty’s passion for classical design is reflected in The theatre with a troupe of stone sculptures, Getty Villa. Socialite Ganna Walska’s Santa Barbara-based wonderland a Seussian aloe garden, and a exudes extravagance , while George Fox Steedman’s painstaking attention where, come summer, the lotus flower thrives. to detail is evident in the architecturally pleasing garden at Casa Del Herrero. Egos aside, a turn-of-the-century interest in collecting bestowed upon Southern California an array of natural wonders. Gilded Age railroad Casa Del Herrero and real estate mogul Henry Edwards Huntington transformed hundreds 1387 East Valley Road, Montecito. of his green acres into a microcosm of the global botanical landscape and (805) 565 5653. casadelherrero.com sought not only to preserve native and unusual species, but to maintain the (reservations required) grounds in perpetuity for the enjoyment of generations to come. Casa del Herrero (House of the Blacksmith) is Southern California’s allure is hidden within the depths of its gardens and a magnificent celebration of Spanish Colonial plant museums, which distil human history, chart the evolutionary landscape Revival architecture. Completed in 1925, the and serve as templates for newer green spaces. A stroll through the legend- former home of St Louis-raised industrialist ary estates, parks and shrines across , Los Angeles and Santa Barbara George Fox Steedman and his wife remains counties is a constant source of inspiration for the enthusiastic green thumb, largely intact – the 4.5ha National Historic Landmark has operated as a house museum PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY LOTUSLAND serious botanist and pure philocalist (lover of beauty).

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and garden since 1993. Every window frames a carefully orchestrated garden view. Side rooms overlook a loggia and rows of standing – Steedman’s favourite flower. The rear faces a star-shaped fountain in Andalusian tile and a formal garden, whose lush lawns unravel through an allée of jasmine before reaching a cornucopia of , camellias and a desert Clockwise from above: garden presided over by a dragon tree. Getty Center bougainvillea; Getty Villa; Casa del Herrero The combined talents of antiquarians, horticulturalists, landscape architects and a Getty Center steadfast Steedman have shaped one of the 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles. most handsome garden spaces in Montecito. (310) 440 7300. getty.edu San Ysidro Ranch Artist Robert Irwin spent five years working The Getty Villa 900 San Ysidro Lane, Santa Barbara. on the Central before it was 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades. (805) 565 1700. sanysidroranch.com unveiled at the opening of the Getty Center (310) 440 7300. getty.edu A wonderful sense of romance infuses the in 1997 (thanks to the J Paul Getty Trust). The Oil magnate J Paul Getty’s art and antiquities gardens of this luxury hideaway, where Vivien result: a 12,449sq m colour-wheel of California museum near Malibu was modelled after the Leigh and Laurence Olivier were married in 1940. natives and seasonal transplants. After Villa dei Papiri, a retreat in Herculaneum that was A painterly drive coloured by trees and navigating a natural ravine, the tree-lined excavated centuries after being buried under the brushstrokes of lavender leads to the entry walkway leads to a gravelled plaza sprouting force of Vesuvius in AD79. Replicas of salvaged hacienda, bowered by blushing bougainvillea. three bougainvillea arbours before revealing ancient bronze statues decorate the property’s Situated in the foothills of the Santa Ynez the centrepiece: a floating of . Roman-inspired gardens, designed by Denis Mountains in Montecito, English gardens hug The layered gardens that grace its circumference Kurutz and Emmet Wemple. An immaculate 41 whitewashed cottages and fragrance the put on a striking show year-round. California symmetrical display (featuring clipped balls of coastal air with thyme and rosemary. Rows of poppies paint spring a riotous shade of red, topiary, grapevine arbours, European fan palms , abundant with oranges and , while fragrant Brazilian angel’s trumpets sweeten and trompe l’oeil-like garden murals) surrounds honour the ranch’s agricultural beginnings. the summer air. The red-and-yellow blossoms of a 67m reflective pool in a large peristyle garden, of roses, a Chinese wisteria arbour the Spanish flag brighten throughout autumn flanked by the Santa Monica Mountains and and a lily pond add an Impressionist touch. and red-twig dogwoods keep company with Pacific Ocean. In addition to a garden of fragrant Herbs, fuzzy-topped fennel and climbing peas fuzzy yellow Kangaroo paws during the winter. herbs and the smaller peristyle, a meditative grow in the Chef’s Organic Garden and supply The white travertine museum features garden evokes a feeling of repose with its the Stonehouse restaurant – a 19th-century courtyard fountains, a garden at the green-and-blue mosaic tile work, running water citrus-packing house – with fresh ingredients South Promontory and unrivalled 360-degree fountains and shade-providing laurel trees. for its dishes and seasonal cocktails. LA views from its mountaintop perch. GETTY CENTER PHOTOGRAPHY: C J PAUL GETTY TRUST; GETTY VILLA: ELLEN M ROSENBERY; ROSENBERY; M GETTY ELLEN VILLA: GETTY TRUST; PAUL J C PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY CENTER CASA DEL HERRERO: COURTESY CASA DEL HERRERO

118 QANTAS DECEMBER 2014 Treasure Island Park, Laguna Beach (left); Senecio serpens and golden barrel cacti, , Art Collections & Botanical Gardens (below)

Treasure Island Park Wesley & Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. d’Elegance, an annual car show (949) 497 3311. lagunabeachcity.net held in the grounds in May. Set on an oceanfront bluff, Treasure Island The Mildred E Park’s spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean Mathias Botanical are framed by velvety Mexican sage, orange Garden UCLA cape honeysuckle, sun-worshipping succulents 777 Tiverton Drive, Los Angeles. and the occasional flutter of a hummingbird. (310) 825 1260. botgard.ucla.edu The former camping ground site (seen in the Located at the crossroads of Westwood’s the Huntington household with blooms for its 1953 Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz movie The Long, residential and commercial districts on the grand floral arrangements – and one of the Long Trailer) was redeveloped into the upscale UCLA campus, this garden feels like a well-kept nation’s most comprehensive camellia Montage Hotel and Treasure Island Park in 2003. secret. Its three dense hectares are hidden from collections. The Garden of Flowing Fragrance The grounds beautifully represent the eclectic the road by diverse subtropical trees including invites guests to enjoy tea among tranquil and creative Laguna Beach community. two sky-grazing Eucalyptus grandis, a Chinese pavilions. A $US60m ($68.6m) Six art works were installed as part of the city’s Queensland gum and the rare dawn Education and Visitor Centre with 2.6ha of Art in Public Places requirements. Life-Force redwoods, known only as a fossil until seeds new gardens opens early next year. – The Mural by Dora De Larios is one of the were brought from China in 1948. Started in The Lake Shrine most photographed. 1929, the expanded in the 1950s to 17190 Sunset Boulevard, Pacific Palisades. include California perennials and Hawaiian (310) 454 4114. lakeshrine.org natives alongside floating aquatics, koi and Greystone Park There’s a mystical quality about this 4ha site turtles in a recycling stream. A recent $US5m 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills. centred on a spring-fed lake. Opened in 1950 ($5.7m) donation by philanthropist Morton (310) 285 6830. greystonemansion.org by Paramahansa Yogananda, founder of the La Kretz will build a welcome centre and Self-Realization Fellowship and author of Long used as a filming location (Batman & classroom, due for completion in 2016. Robin, Ghostbusters, X-Men), this Gothic revival Autobiography Of A Yogi, it was dedicated mansion (1927) was designed for the family of as a harmonious space for all religions. Behind oil heir EL “Ned” Doheny Jr. Its hillside location The Huntington Library, Art an archway crowned with gold-painted lotus above Sunset Boulevard offers unobstructed Collections & Botanical flowers rests the open-air Mahatma Gandhi views of the Los Angeles Basin from a rose- Gardens World Peace Memorial, where a portion of the peacemaker’s ashes are enshrined in a stone fringed stone terrace shaded by a sprawling . 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. sarcophagus. Meditation services are held The house and its landscaped English gardens (626) 405 2100. huntington.org took three years to complete, and though the under the dome of a hilltop temple, while Established by a non-profit educational trust house is closed to visitors, its exterior grounds lake-facing benches surrounded by palms and and opened in 1928, this diverse plant palette were dedicated by the City of Beverly Hills as a wildflowers welcome quiet contemplation. covering nearly 49ha was heavily influenced by public park in 1971. Although some key features Upon acquisition of the property, Paramahansa landscape William Hertrich’s natural have disappeared – a lush meadow was turned Yogananda said, “You will see, later on, this will touch and experimental approach. Sinuous into the parking lot – a glorious Italianate allée, be a pilgrimage place. People will come from all paths traverse a dozen principal gardens: the koi-filled lily pond, inner courtyard with a over the world.” The natural amphitheatre is a otherworldly 4ha Desert Garden contains 4000 fountain, and slated walkways convey its serene home to swans, turtles and waterlilies, plant species and a display of 500 golden barrel golden-age grandeur. Catch the Concours visited by thousands of people every year. cacti, a romantic – which supplied A TREASURE ISLAND PARK PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY VISITLAGUNABEACH.COM;CACTI: HUNTINGTON LIBRARY, ART COLLECTIONS & BOTANICAL GARDENS

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