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This page last updated on 07/11/2017
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Description: Each season, the enormously talented horticulturalists and designers who make up the Bellagio Conservatory team transform this 14,000-square-foot floral playground into a showcase of the distinctive sights and colors of spring, summer, fall and winter. For 2017 the summer exhibit features its first Italian-inspired display titled "Tour of Italy". It features a rugged mountain landscape with multicolored villas (Fig. 01) that sit high above a cove-studded coastline. A large waterfall flows down the mountain feeding the cove-studded coastline (Fig. 02). The journey begins in the East Garden as you make your way through two 26-foot stone archways framed by eight Cypress trees (Fig. 03). Each end of of this walkway is guarded by a pair of large pots (Fig. 03) and four over-sized, beautiful handcrafted Italian vases with miniature lemon trees emerging from each vase (Fig. 04). (con't below)
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Description continued: The two large arches are encased by two lush gardens, both resembling estates near Rome. To the left in the South Garden there is an over-sized 22-foot, moss-covered fountain overflowing with water that pays tribute to "The Fontana dell'Ovato" located in Villa d’Este, a 16th century residence in Tivoli (Fig. 05). The fountain is 18 feet in height and 40 feet in length x 3 feet in width. Atop the 18 feet high wall sit's 4 lemon trees along the balustrade. The fountain bowl is 10 feet wide and 5 feet deep. Two on each side of the waterfall , the wall itself has four cut out arches below the balustrade. These arches are 9 feet in height and 3 feet in width. Each of the arches contain inside, decorative hand painted containers housing citrus trees. In front of the fountain there is a decorative plate that was inspired by the magnificent Italian tiles and plates that are made in Italy. This 8-foot diameter plate was first covered in lentils and then became the canvas for an incredible hand painted Italian village landscape, illustrating the beauty found throughout the countryside (Fig. 05).. The front radius of the balustrade wall in front of the pond is 39 linear feet in length. It contains nine additional, 20-inch plates, each artistically hand-painted with Italian country-side scenes (Fig. 06).
To the right in the North Garden, water streams from five lion and monkey sculptures mounted on a foliage-covered wall (Fig. 08) lined with four lemon topiaries comprised of 1,400 flowers and an intricately majolica-tiled bench (Fig. 07).
Walking to the rear of the exhibit in the West Garden you are confronted with a magnificent, rugged landscape and cove-studded coastline, studded with fifty multicolored villas complete with terraces and a 12-foot chiming bell tower (Fig. 09). The village is surrounded by magnificent vegetation and eight hanging Italian lanterns and a half dozen sun-soaked umbrellas that create an architectural model representing life on the island of Capri. Hanging overhead there is a huge sun and moon (Fig. 10). On the west side of the small pond, there is also a 30-foot tall lemon tree (Fig. 11) that provides shade to the multi-collared yachts calmly floating by Lovers’ Rock (Fig. 12). Below the lemon tree there are some large fallen lemons lying in a beautiful bed of yellow flowers (Fig. 13). The outer edges of the area are filled with some beautiful yellow fluted flowers (Fig. 14). Outside the garden in the Bellagio's entrance lobby and "check-in" area, there are additional displays and dozens of exquisite flowered vases everywhere (Fig. 15).
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The Bellagio’s Conservatory and Botanical Gardens display will be available now through Sept. 9 and is complimentary to the public and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
