Launch into summer’s beauty with Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. The attraction’s newest exhibit, Higher Love, which runs through Aug. 24, brings a feel of yesteryear to the incredible tableau spread throughout the beds of the attraction, a collaboration between designer Ed Libby and the Bellagio horticultural team.
“This incredible display was created with the intention of inspiring guests to reflect on how love can lift us all up,” said Libby in a recent news release. That feeling of romance permeates the space, with the team using a jewel-box palette of colors across every inch of the installation.
“We hope Higher Love not only enchants our visitors, but garners feelings of growth, celebration and warmth through all of the iconic symbols associated with the splendor of the summer season,” said Libby.
In the West Bed, you’ll find three hot-air balloons, each decorated in a different style. In the center is an intricate vessel, looking oh-so-very like a delicate Fabergé egg. To the side of that, floating over a serene water feature, is a rose-covered ballon in hues of red and orange, with a waterfall sending water to the pond below.
And on the opposite side of the bed is a huge, 36-foot-tall red balloon whose basket houses the Garden Table, where Michael Mina and Sadelle’s Café offer prix fixe menus for dinner and brunch. Each has several seatings each day of service. (Michael Mina serves its elaborate prix fixe dinner Wednesday through Sunday, while Sadelle’s Café offers its brunch daily.) It’s a perfect place to indulge in a memorable meal while doing a little people-watching.
In the North Bed, a different type of romance is on display, as the installations capture a sense of adventure with a venture into the steampunk vibe. Enormous copper-colored cogs flank a balloon with a ship with brass fittings subbing for the basket. The balloon itself sports panels adorned with alternating blue flowers and organic greenery. Behind these, a video screen stretches, and a festival of multicolored ballons and cogs create a mesmerizing display.
In the center East Bed, a peaceful fountain with small surrounding water jets sits in another pond as a whimsical airship/balloon flies overhead. It is joined by large butterflies, an element you’ll see throughout the attraction, and massive sculptural flowers in all the beds. In the South Bed, purple hues dominate the scene. An ornate 26-foot-tall balloon sports jewels laid into each panel, and the basket overflows with an abundance of blooms as the craft floats over a pond.
As is traditionally the case with the conservatory displays, every spare inch is occupied by live blooming flowers and plants. In fact, there are more than 22,000 potted plants and live trees used in the summer installation. The sheer number of preserved and live elements in the summer display is truly mind-boggling, with 75,000 preserved flowers and floral pieces used in the North and South Beds’ balloons alone, plus 35,000 blooming orchids and yellow mimosas decorating the mimosa tree. The attraction is open 24 hours daily, so finding the time to visit should be easy.
Bellagio. 702.693.7111. bellagio.mgmresorts.com
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