Five times a year the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens at Bellagio cultivate a riot of color to celebrate each season. From enormous, bright butterflies captured in flight to a towering Christmas tree filled with twinkling lights, the 13,500-square-foot atrium teems with fragrant lilies, roses, orchids, tulips, exquisite topiaries, rare plants, and trees.

The vision behind the floral extravaganza is Audra Danzak, director of horticulture for Bellagio. Armed with her imagination, Audra and her team translate fanciful ideas into artistic renderings that are ultimately executed in a living medium, using color and texture from an array of flowers, plants, and trees.

This January, the Chinese New Year display returns to the Conservatory, stimulating good fortune with the help of a Feng Shui consultant who aligns energy and creates a sense of harmony through the flow of water and the arrangement of Taihu rocks, known for their natural, unique silhouettes and irregular contours. The Conservatory will also create beauty with the incorporation of a single new, and unusual, element: a century-old Banyan tree.

Traditionally during Chinese New Year, homes are filled with flowers, symbolizing success, and blooming plants, signifying rebirth and new growth. Citrus flows from bowls, as oranges and tangerines represent abundance and happiness. Color abounds: red represents power and vitality, gold represents wealth and everywhere are wishes of prosperity and happiness. The Conservatory pays homage to this celebration with the same elements one might find in the traditional Chinese home: a wealth of color, flowers, and sentiments of good luck.

This year, Danzak wanted to create an exhibit that would outshine the already impressive presentations of the past. “I wanted to take the Chinese New Year display to the next level,” Danzak said. She was presented with the opportunity when she learned of a magnificent Banyan tree in West Palm Beach scheduled for removal to make way for a sculpture garden. This Florida landmark, over 100 feet tall and 40 feet in diameter, will be the center of focus for the 2006 Chinese New Year display.