Lotusland

     You're stuck with a couple more days of our vacation pictures.  We also went to California.  We enjoyed a few days in Santa Barbara, where we went to a botanical garden named Lotusland.
Lotusland was designed by Ganna Walska.  She bought her home and property in 1941 and spent the next 43 years creating her gardens.  She collected interesting and rare species of plants from all over the world.  Though the complex is named Lotusland, there is only one pond containing lotus plants.  Our tour, led by a darling, little retired professor, was packed with information.  Here are just a few of the highlights:
     Madame Ganna Wlaska was a socialite and opera singer.  From all accounts, she was a lousy singer.  Her real talent was marrying rich men.  She had six husbands.  Numbers one, two, and five died.  She divorced numbers three and four.  Number six, her much younger yoga instructor, was probably her only bad choice.  She divorced him when he started frittering away her fortune.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganna_Walska
    

The garden contains rare species of cycads, plants that have been around since the days of the dinosaurs.  Ganna procured these plants from all over the world.  She would never be able to get them today because they are protected by internation treaties.
 

These little statues are called "Grotesques."  Ganna didn't have children, but she enjoyed nieces and nephews.  The statues were for their amusement.

The cacti in the cactus garden were donated to Lotusland in 1999.  The plants were moved 500 miles from their original home to Lotusland.  It took several years to acclimate them to their new environment.  Only a couple of plants did not survive the relocation.

The orchards contain lemons, oranges, and grapefruit.  They allow the fruit to drop and rot.  What a waste.

Our guide told us that most of the lotus plant is edible.  Is it served as an appetizer or dessert?