LAS VEGAS. – Celebrating the exquisite beauty of flight, Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens unveils an “elevated” spring display titled, “Flights of Fancy,” on view through May 14. Featuring various forms of flight from fanciful hot air balloons to hummingbirds and butterflies, all beds showcase a spring palette of purples, pinks, yellows, and blues.
A collaborative effort between designer Ed Libby and the talented Bellagio horticulture and engineering teams, the spring display features the most variety of plants and flowers ever used in the Conservatory. Ensuring guests are fully immersed in the season, the team added distinct new touches this year including theatrical lighting for each bed, a song playlist as whimsical as the display, and a custom “Lavender Woods” scent that infuses the air with soft floral notes.
“The spring exhibit features fanciful flying creatures and a festival of balloons outfitted in high-fashion colors inspired by the 2022 runways,” said Libby. “The focal point in each bed are hot air balloons which symbolize freedom and independence, and the variety and beauty of each balloon and bed will entice guests to take a walk through the clouds and capture all of the picture perfect details throughout the display.”
East Bed – Floating on Air
Guests will feel like they are floating on air as the East Bed serves as the welcome moment for the Conservatory. Visitors enter on a bridge of moving clouds, created with special effects beneath a hand-painted floor. White cloud-shaped rails lead them through a hot air balloon basket made of actual vintage baskets from retired balloons. Colorful oversized butterflies elegantly soar above and throughout the East Bed surrounding a 34-foot-tall pink and pastel green floral hot air balloon elegantly adorned with the Bellagio “B.” Eight large manmade Aster flowers surround the balloon’s basket along with fresh tulips and hydrangeas.
West Bed – Up, Up and Away
North Bed – The New Nouveau
A celebration of all things yellow highlights the beauty of the North Bed with Finches and monarch butterflies surrounding a 26-foot-tall yellow daffodil-inspired hot air balloon, reminiscent of art nouveau. A yellow frog shooting water from its mouth sits beneath, as live yellow and orange koi fish swim below. Two large 16-foot-tall handmade glass daffodil installations accentuate the scene along with oversized 8-foot-tall yellow roses, symbolizing friendship, and a 26-foot-tall Persian silk tree with delicate yellow flowers standing majestically nearby. A hand-painted sunset mural sets the scene as the background for the bed.
South Bed – Proud as a Peacock
Glamour rules the South Bed with a peacock motif symbolizing beauty and rejuvenation as male peacocks shed their feathers each year to reinvent themselves. Peacock feathers are displayed throughout the scene as two hot air balloons adorned with peacock patterns and accented with tassels and preserved blue roses float above. The largest balloon at the center holds a 10-foot-tall replica of a male peacock within its basket. Below, large scale hibiscus and purple pansies frame the scene as huge hummingbirds perch on their petals. Two intricate 12-foot-tall hummingbird nests made of willow branches hang on the southeast corner of the bed holding giant delicately painted eggs within.
The Conservatory & Botanical Gardens is complimentary to the public and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Flights of Fancy” Spring Display by the Numbers
- 15,000 roses used on the East Bed “Floating on Air” balloon
- 8,700 potted plants in the display
- 8,000 hours it takes to create the spring display
- 1,800 yards of decorative cording used in the display
- 1,400 pounds of the yellow daffodil hot air balloon
- 80 artists, horticulturists and engineers used to create the spring display
- 8 clouds made of baby’s breath and white hydrangeas
- 8 large Aster flowers in the East Bed
- 7 hot air balloons within the display
- 6 Bellagio “B” letters in the display
- 2 giant hummingbirds
- 1 vintage airship in the display
