Sunday, February 10, 2013

Happy Chinese New Year From The Bellagio Hotel Garden




Today, February 10, 2013, 



is Chinese New Year's Day and unlike most new year celebrations,
this one lasts for 15 days.


It is the year of the snake. According to the Chinese zodiac, individuals born in the year of the snake are intelligent, keen, wise and cunning. And it is a year of good fortune if you were born in the year of the snake.


This nine foot tall snake is in the atrium display garden of the Bellagio Hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada. I once saw a snake close up while gardening in my San Diego back yard.  I don't know if it had anything to do with good fortune, but I immediately froze in my tracks and then slowly backed away, went in the house and closed the door.  Gardening done for the day--or for a few.


I'm not much of a gambler but I recently came to Vegas to visit my niece.  We made a bit of the rounds on the strip, and I even played $25 in slot machines just to round out my Vegas experience. (Turns out I donated.) We were also lucky to get reduced price on tickets to Cirque du Soleil's Beatles LOVE show (it was fab) and I ate at my favorite Spanish restaurant, Chef Jose Andres' Jaleo at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. (Eating paella with bomba rice and Iberico pork ribs was way better than gambling my money away.)


And the bright colors and winning flower combinations in this Chinese New Year's garden display were more appealing than any of the losing combos I saw on the slots.

 Yellow bromeliad and Vriesea Purple "Vogue"

The display was filled with yellow, red and purple bromeliads and chrysanthemums in yellow,orange and purple.



There were bubbling water fountains


and rocky waterfalls.


The Chinese doll mannequins had costumes made



only with flowers. They were lovely.



But I knew I hit the jackpot when I laid eyes on this beauty. She stole the show--
Aechmea, Blue Tango.


A quick Google search indicates this is a patented hybrid bromeliad that stands out in a fashionable cobalt blue and hot pink. I found it for purchase in a 9" nursery pot for just under $105 on the web. That could be quite the gamble: high stakes if your green thumb turns out not to be so green. Ha!
Turns out I am a gardener who gambles with plants all the time in my garden, betting that I can grow them!

So here's to good fortune in your garden this year!

Chinese symbol for  blessings, happiness and good fortune.


This is GardenEnvy.



Copyright 2013 by Jeannine.  All Rights Reserved.