Ganna Walska Lotusland

Ganna Walska Lotusland's public tours showcase plant collections encompassing over 3,500 taxa, including species from mediterranean regions around the world. Many of these species are rare, endangered, and some are extinct in the wild. The collections feature cacti, succulents, cycads, palms, ferns, begonias, and conifers. Our sustainable horticulture methods are founded on organic methods and are designed to demonstrate environmental stewardship and teach best practices.

Enhancing access and inclusion: north america's botanic gardens serve over 123 million people annually, demonstrating their immense value. However, some visitors find it challenging to access or afford a visit to Lotusland give the $60 admission for adults. To address this, Lotusland operates its open pathways program, which underwrites some or all admission fees for community group tours, events, and meetings. These initiatives reflect Lotusland's commitment to inclusivity and community engagement, ensuring that financial barriers do not prevent anyone from experiencing the wonders of our gardens. Lotusland's open pathways program includes: museums for all: this national initiative offers admissions to individuals receiving food assistance (snap benefits) by presenting their ebt card and a photo id. Grant funds support admissions and access revenue for this program; nonprofit organization support: grants enable us to provide access and tours to nonprofit organizations, allowing individuals who might not otherwise experience Lotusland to do so; accredited local museum or garden staff are hosted at no cost, fostering professional development and collaboration within the community; community access days: with private support, Lotusland offers half-price tickets on community access days. These days include admissions for santa barbara county visitors toour outdoor gardens and collections, featuring pop-up programming that enriches the visitor experience.

Junior botanist program: formerly known as the fourth grade outreach program, the junior botanist program offers students immersive experiences within Lotusland's 37-acre garden classroom. In 2023, we continued nurturing the environmental stewards of tomorrow by educating them about botany, horticulture, and sustainable practices. This program served:- 1,750 k-12 students from 26 elementary schools- 261 university students- 3 paid student internsfollowing the pandemic, the junior botanist program was reinstated in its fullest form to continue providing free public access to promote life sciences education.