Fall has arrived at the Bellagio Conservatory
Finally, we can stop wondering what the heck is behind those heavy white curtains. Autumn has officially arrived at the Bellagio, with their creative geniuses unveiling a new installation that looks a lot like an enchanted forest you’d find in New England.
The soaring conservatory is filled to the brim with the richest colors of the season, featuring equally impressive man-made and natural elements. A walkable covered bridge with a bricked walkway leads visitors down the center of the room, to a churning water mill. The mill stands 40 feet high with a working wheel that pours 60-75 gallons of water into a river rock pond every minute.
The water mill empties into a pond that is surrounded by a field of mums and creeping vines and is flanked by a couple of knucklehead scarecrows with a talking tree. The next time your neighborhood HOA complains about your dandelions, tell them you got your inspiration from a trendy garden feature at the Bellagio. These 18-foot-tall dandelion seedlings are wired with LED lights and sparkle throughout the conservatory when the sun goes down.
The enchantment continues with some pretty gnarly Ents, the tree-like creatures most people recognize from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy worlds. Even your worst bed-head can’t compete with these matted-haired Bob Marley look-alikes who are playing in a meadow of flowers, carving pumpkins. They’re an artistic bunch, who have mastered Pinterest-worthy designs the rest of us could never create in real life. Just stick with the snaggle-toothed jack-o-lantern design…it’s a classic. A 12-foot twisted oak tree showcases their creative masterpieces on the curved and winding branches.
On the other side of the room, a 12-foot-tall and 18-foot-long cornucopia-esque basket is filled with autumn’s bounty. Larger-than-life pumpkins, berries, gourds, and wheat grass along with floral topiaries and a green floral worm with a mischievous grin peek out from the haul. There are 800 Circus Roses, 225 Leonidas Roses and 135 Hypericum used in this massive display.
While the skies are filled with suspended acrylic leaves and pine cones, there are also furry friends hanging from above. Two-foot-tall feathery owls are perched on a 10-foot-long faux tree branch while playful raccoons flank the other side. Their bushy tales and coat are all made with faux fur atop a faux birch branch. See, this is where all that man-made stuff comes in.
Who needs Vermont and Maine when the Bellagio Conservatory has just become the place to see fall colors in all their glory? Ahem…OK you should probably see those too. The autumn display is up now through Thanksgiving.