Bellagio conservatory conjures jolly holiday — PHOTOS

Desert dwellers dreaming of a white Christmas will find a 24-hour winter wonderland as close as Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Open around the clock through Jan. 3, the free holiday display includes such signs of the season as a 42-foot Christmas tree, thousands of twinkling lights and 28,000 poinsettias.

At the center of it all: the towering tree, decorated with 2,500 ornaments and 7,000 white LED lights and flanked by 12-foot tall animated snow globes showcasing classic winter scenes. (One globe features skaters gliding across an icy pond; the other showcases carolers singing at the base of a spinning tree.)

Below the tree, a model locomotive chugs past four chocolate houses and two chocolate stations created by Bellagio’s pastry team.

At the conservatory entrance, oversized ornaments and four 18-foot white LED trees — covered in faux snow — create a path leading to a walk-through, 13-foot snow globe. (Photo alert!)

Nearby, a mother polar bear — decorated with 12,000 white carnations — keeps a watchful eye on her three cubs (sporting 5,000 white carnations each), who slip and slide across icebergs floating in a pond.

(Photo-snapping guests may share images of the Coca-Cola polar bear on social media using #BellagioHoliday and #MakeSomeone Happy; for every photo uploaded through the holiday season the soda company will donate $1 to Toys for Tots, up to $50,000.)

Also featured in the conservatory’s make-believe menagerie: animated penguins, frolicking near a stage where live holiday performances are presented from 4:30 to 6 p.m. daily. Glimmering millennium stars — ranging from 12 to 18 feet — hang over the scene, illuminating the garden with a soft glow.

More than 34,000 flowers make up the holiday displays, accented by 750 shrubs and 25 trees.

Visitors who venture beyond the conservatory to the adjacent Jean Philippe Patisserie will encounter a 5-foot chocolate Santa Claus, sitting in his favorite chair — and hand-carved from 230 pounds of dark chocolate and 50 pounds of fondant.

Adding to the holiday atmosphere: Bellagio’s famous fountains, which will feature seasonal sounds — from the “Hallelujah Chorus” and “O Holy Night” to “Santa Baby” — starting at 3 p.m. weekdays, noon on Saturdays and holidays and 11 a.m. Sundays.

For more information on Bellagio’s conservatory and other attractions, call 702-693-7111 or visit www.bellagio.com.