During the time I lived in southern California I can’t believe I never visited Lotusland. But of course at that time in my life, botanical gardens were probably not on top of my list.

Priorities change, so next time I’m in southern California, I will have to make a reservation to visit Lotusland.

Because Lotusland is a public garden operating in a private, residential neighborhood, advance reservations are required.

Lotusland is located in Montecito, just east of Santa Barbara.

It sits in a 37-acre estate that used to belong to Madame Ganna Wakska. Her life story in itself is very interesting. You can read more about it here.

Madame Wakska resided at the esate from 1941 to 1984. She did not have any children and before her death, her estate was  established as the non-profit Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation.

The photo of the lily pods are one of my favorite photo from gamillo via Flickr.

If you love lotus, the best time to visit would be in June when they are in full bloom.

Many people who have visited this place gave it great reviews. One reviewer described the garden as romantic and flamboyant. Probably much like Madame Ganna Wakska herself.

If you live near the area, it would be worth it to get the membership and visit as often as you like. No need to be part of the “guided 2 hour” tour.

For the rest of us, check out gamillo’s Flickr set for some great photos of the place.

To make a tour reservation call 805-969-9990 or email reservation@lotusland.org. Visits are by appointment only.

Check out the shells along the edges.  And the waterfall is so neat.  Photo by Karl Gercens.

The garden is divided into these garden groups.  I’ve made a partial list here:

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Golden Gate park has many attractions for garden and nature lovers. The Japanese Tea Garden is also located just across from the botanical garden. And not far is the Conservatory of Flowers. For family fun, there is the Academy of Science.

This time around I only made it to the botanical garden. And here are more photos. So let’s continue with our garden walk.

One of the Magnolia tulip trees that was in bloom.

Huge azaleas tree with bright pink flowers.

There is a shady part of the forest which includes this lush and green area fill with ferns and fiddleheads.

I love seeing moss grow on rocks. Also love ferns too.

Silk tassle bush. Not quite in bloom yet. I wrote about it earlier.

Pretty and simple pink flowers.

Just outside the garden is this pasture of free range buffaloes.

By the time we got to the windmill it was almost sunset. This is the Queen Wilhelmina Garden. The garden was dedicated in 1962 in honor of the queen of the Netherlands. Every spring it’s fill with tulips. This year I didn’t catch the bloom in time. But they did replace it with colorful poppies.

We now end our walk and drive towards the Pacific Ocean for a sunset. No photos but it was nice and very chilly.

Spring is the best time to visit S.F. Botanical Garden. Lots of camellia, azaleas, rhododendrons, and tulip trees were in full bloom.

And here are some flowers I found along the walking trail.

Proteacea or commonly known as Australian bush flower.  These were grown in the South African garden area.

The Proteaceae family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species.  The flower remind me of artichoke.

Simple and small purple violet wild flowers. These were also seen growing outside the park too.  The background is a fallen redwood tree trunk.

These white flowers (peonies) were huge and the plant itself was at least 5 feet tall.  The petals look like crepe white paper.

Purple lilac tree gave off a lovely scent.

This garden is perfect for spending the day outdoor.  With plenty of friendly squirrels and birds to keep you company.

The map can be seen here.  They are working on a South East Asian Cloud forest too. I wonder what type of tropical plants they will have growing there.  

The park used to offer free admissions, but now it’s only free for S.F. residents.  Ticket price is $7 per person.

At least Golden Gate Park is still free to the public. And there are plenty of flowers and wildlife to be seen. Including cherry blossoms, calla lilies, and California native golden poppies too.

Parks like this are a great escape for city folks as well as a nice destination for travelers too.

Once in a while I’ll use Bing for internet searches. Actually I go there just to look at the nice photo of the day. And also like the info that goes along with them too. Today I went there and saw “The Plain of Jars” from Laos. Click here for large photo. Very neat!

Photo from Bing. These jars are located within Xieng Khouang provence. Each site has 1 to 400 stone jars. The stone jars stand in height and diameter between 1 and 3 meters.

Back to Bing’s top search for 2011. “According to Bing searches, 2011 was the year of musical superstars, continued celebrity fascination, saving money, concern for human tragedy and new royalty.”

Others including Yahoo, AOL, and Ask.com also had their list. Their top 10 list also includes mostly celebrities. I personally am tired of hearing about them all the time. It’s as ridiculous as Barbara Walter’s special - where’s the real news? I have given up on watching the TV news and get my news online.

Interesting Search Data For the Year compiled by Bing:

* Most Searched Viral Video: 2011 was all about Friday — Rebecca Black’s Friday that is. As the most searched viral video on Bing, Rebecca Black’s video even beat MTV video music award winner Adele by 34 percent.

* Most Searched Celebrity Couple: When it comes to the most searched celebrity couple on Bing, there’s a tie between Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith and Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber tied. The royal couple came in third.

* Most Searched Economic Terms: With the economic difficulties we’re facing, it’s no wonder that bankruptcy and selling a home were among the top financial terms searched in 2011. Topping the list were searches for real estate agents, perhaps showing the difficulty and need in selling a home.

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