the botany of disneyland…

I loved having the chance to surprise my son with a day at Disneyland! Sharing smiles, laughs and screams as we navigated our way through “the happiest place on earth“was very nice.

I’ve always been a “stop to smell the roses” kind of girl, even in Disneyland. In between the rides, the food, the parades, the humanity, I found myself in awe of the general level of detail everywhere, and, in particular, the landscaping.

The delightful gardens one finds in the park are not just due to the sunnier clim our southern neighbors enjoy.

Historically, Walt Disney was known for having a great love of the natural world. In this spirit, while the park is closed at night, a team of gardeners work hard to make sure each bed is perfectly kept.

One of the more time consuming jobs is daily deadheading {picking off any and all of the spent blooms}. Could you imagine the amount of time required to maintain just this presentation of pansies that create the perfect image of Mickey Mouse at the park entrance?

Surrounding Mickey’s face are these elaborate swirls created with a combination of bright and pale yellow pansies.

These gardeners must be busier than all of the bees that are released at Disneyland each year. For the past 12 years Disneyland has used beneficial insects as a part of their pest management program.

We saw hundreds of bees polinating this field of Icelandic

Poppies

and Anemones.

And there was an absolute roaring buzz coming from this citrus grove.

This year in celebration of Earth Day, Disneyland invited local school children to the California Adventure Park to release 140,000 ladybugs. Ladybugs have a great appetite for aphids and other insects that cause harm to plants.

On his travels around the world, Walt Disney was known to curate ideas for the park.

These boxed hedges looked quite royal and fitting next to the main castle.

This view of the Matterhorn Ride from The Mad Tea Party Ride reminded me of the restaurant where we celebrated our completion of the Haute Route in Zermatt last Spring.

The Matterhorn, Zermatt Switzerland

We made it! Finishing the Haute Route. Zermatt, Switzerland

Some of the oldest trees are these Bonsai’s we viewed on The Storybook Land cruise.

I’ve heard that Walt Disney personally planted and cared for many of these trees.

The boats on this ride are scaled down replicas of those you would find in European canals. Upon these boats you can be taken past miniature settings from the Disney stories.

How creative to break away from traditional flowers and greens. Here, rows of herbs and vegetables make an appealing landscape.

Feathered friends around the park seem to be in favor of this choice.

Succulents thrive in this climate and are often found around the park. This tapestry is along the boat route in the Storybook Boat Ride.

I loved this birdbath full of succulents in front of the Haunted Mansion.

Here they are on the gardening table of Tarzan {and, let’s face it, Jane’s} Treehouse.

What can’t be grown can be made. In Bug’s Land, one can understand what it would be like to be a tiny ant beneath a giant carriage of clovers.

Don’t you love these lovely leaf lanterns?

Walt Disney’s appreciation of nature is still strongly represented in his park in Anaheim, drone you agree?

One last interesting fact: given the number of people and all of the food and beverages that are consumed in these parks each day, it always amazes me how clean the grounds are. In my research, I learned that Walt Disney bought {or asked for?} a hot dog one day and counted how many paces he had to take before he finished his snack. Based on this experience he decided {declared?} to have a garbage can placed every 20 paces throughout the themeparks.

Even as I talk trash about this company, believe me, I am so impressed with their focus on the details, click on trash to read about the presentation of garbage receptacles throughout the parks.

Comments

quintessence says

May 23, 2011 at 12:04 pm

What a wonderful surprise for your son – I'm sure he was thrilled!! I noticed the incredible landscaping and plantings at Disneyworld but didn't realize it was an initiative on the part of Walt himself!! Fun post!!

Ana says

May 24, 2011 at 2:26 pm

Thanks, Emily! A whole new world to explore at Disneyland. 🙂 A