Photo by: Courtesy of MGM Resorts International
When I lived on the East Coast, autumn was my favorite season. The crunch of leaves underfoot, a mug of hot cider in my cold hands, pumpkins clustered on every stoop—those are memories I will always treasure. Here in the desert, fall barely registers unless you know where to look. Walk into the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, though, and you’ll find the season in all its glory.
Autumn Majesty: A Glamorous Harvest is up through Nov. 8, and unlike most Strip attractions designed to dazzle and move you along, this one wants you to linger. “Every detail was carefully crafted to spark joy, ignite the imagination and invite visitors to pause and savor the pageantry, glamour and fleeting beauty of this special time of year,” says Ed Libby, senior director of horticulture and facilities.
Enter through the West Bed, where a 37-foot tree cradles a moss-covered treehouse in its branches. Next to it stands Colossus—modeled after Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and harvest—gripping a cornucopia that spills its bounty into a pond below. Tucked into one corner sits an enormous emerald pumpkin hollowing out space for The Garden Table, where you can actually eat brunch from Sadelle’s or dinner from Michael Mina, surrounded by all this beauty (reservations required: 702.693.7075).
The North Bed is pure whimsy, featuring a mushroom forest ruled by Queen Lilybrook, an orange-and-black frog perched regally on a stone throne. Mushroom and poppy topiaries made from fresh flowers dot the landscape. Behind it all, LED screens pulse with color and movement while hidden speakers pipe in forest sounds. (You’ll barely remember you’re in a casino.) The space smells like fresh apple cider. Speaking of which, if you want to take the scent home, stop in the Giardini Store, where you can purchase the Glamorous apple cider candle.
Photo by: Courtesy of MGM Resorts International
In the East Bed, a 23-foot pumpkin palace rises up, crowned with a golden Bellagio “B.” Its gilded canopy shelters you under intricate metalwork decorated with stained-glass dragonflies and golden leaves. Pumpkin fountains cascade into the pond while cattails and burgundy-and-orange foliage sprawl across the garden floor.
The South Bed feels quieter and more subdued. A 16-by-16-foot pumpkin house shelters a parliament of owls roosting beside a waterfall. Birch branches arc overhead, strung with botanicals and perched dragonflies. Hundreds of pumpkins and gourds are scattered through the space, symbols of prosperity and gratitude. With glowing mushroom lanterns and the soft trickle of water, it’s the closest thing to peaceful you’ll find on the Strip.
Step back and the numbers tell their own story: 700,000 autumn-colored leaves, 31,000 carnations forming those mushroom topiaries, a 667-pound pumpkin holding down the harvest, 150 owl and pheasant feathers, 24 natural birch poles, 10 dragonflies, three frogs, two sculpted pumpkin fountains and one towering Colossus presiding over it all.
For anyone missing the bite of real autumn in Vegas, this delivers. Me? I’m going back for the cider-scented air and that field of pumpkins for a trip down memory lane.
Bellagio, 702.693.7111. bellagio.mgmresorts.com
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