Gorgeous Azaleas, Plus: Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens… The Pacific Coast Series #9

/ Curt Mekemson
It was Mother’s Day. We are on the West Coast in the middle of our Pacific Coast exploration and our kids are on the East Coast. It was up to me to spoil Peggy. I started out by cooking her sourdough French toast topped off with butter and maple syrup, accompanied by sausage. Then it was time for the flowers.
So I took Peggy to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens where there were lots of them. It is south of Fort Bragg about 10 minutes away from where we were camped on the Noyo River. The azaleas were in full bloom. Plus there were lots of other flowers, such as the beauty below. Note: This is the most photos I have ever posted on one blog. I kept the words to a minimum. It goes fast! I promise— unless you want to linger. Grin.
The garden covers 40 acres with numerous paths leading through woodlands, wetlands and along the coast. There was even a desert section.
Blue, blue, and blue!
As I noted, the azaleas were in full bloom. And beautiful. Peggy and I were kept busy with our cameras.
The azaleas came in numerous sizes, colors and even shapes.
White was a popular color.
As was red.
Pink was the most common…
Pinkish?
Not pink.
And now for other plants. This was in the desert collection. Strangely beautiful.
And big. Peggy provides perspective.
Its companion. Note the yellow flower on the right…
It was strange.
This plant? Possibly stranger.
A close up.
But what is stranger than a Venus flytrap?
Inner light…
Lime green.
Not sure what this is, but it felt a bit Jurassic. (Peggy and I were at Fern Canyon in the Redwoods on Tuesday where a portion of the original Jurassic Park movie was filmed.)
Cascading.
Also cascading: foxglove. We grew them in Oregon because the deer weren’t supposed to eat them. Every day they would come by, sample a bloom, and spit it out. Stubborn!
This would go well on a Christmas tree.
A poppy refused to come out because it was overcast and cold.
There were herons in the park.
Plus an owl.
And at least two pieces of impressive drift wood.
This gate led to a vegetable garden. Other than being artistic, its purpose was to keep the deer out!
Just inside was a burbling brook with this sign posted on it— a polite way to ask visitors not to throw coins in the water. A not so polite sign in the vegetable garden directed visitors to keep their dogs from peeing on the vegetables.
Fun greenhouse (or tool shed) at the vegetable garden.
The Botanical Garden also includes a section of the dramatic Mendocino Coast. We included it in our hike. There were more flowers, of course.
The trail led us right along the edge of the ocean.
Ice plant.
Some of the ground was carpeted by tiny yellow flowers so tiny they were indistinct…
But not to our cameras.
We normally take photos of poppies to emphasize the flowers. This time, it was the leaves.
I’ll conclude today with colorful rock that was towering over the others in the small bay. I was pondering what it reminded me of. “It’s Buddha,” Peggy declared. It was the Buddha of the Bay. On Monday, we will explore more of the Mendocino Coast including the headlands outside of the town of Mendocino and Fort Bragg’s famous Glass Beach.
Many years ago, before such activities became unthinkable, not to mention illegal, this section of the beach in Fort Bragg served as a dump. Time has ground the glass to the point where it fits right in with the pebbles and seashells. In a quick perusal, I counted over 30 pieces in this small section.

29 thoughts on “Gorgeous Azaleas, Plus: Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens… The Pacific Coast Series #9”

  1. I love EVERYTHING in this post! Flowers, succulents, ground cover, tool shed, pebbles, my oh my! How much can one person take? And that picture of the coastline with flowers!!! I would never ever leave if I were there. They’d have to throw me in the ocean to get rid of me.

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  2. OK. I’ll finally confess it. I’m not fond of azaleas. There’s a famous azalea garden in Nacogdoches that I visited once. Once I’d made my way through it, I thought, “Whatever.” That said, there was a lot to enjoy here: especially the herons, the owl, the gate, and the oceanside views from the garden. I’d put up with the azaleas to see that!

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    • I developed my like for them early on, Linda, when I would be huffing and puffing my way up a steep mountain in the Sierras and come on a small stream, loaded with azaleas as well as other flowers. It was always a welcome break! I’m trying to think if there has ever been a flower I didn’t like.

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  4. What a glorious Mother’s Day Curt with such gorgeous pics.. I can only imagine what it was like being there. Peggy did give perspective to those leaves.. The colors are exquisite and I can’t wait to see the sea glass. That one picture is enticing🌹🌸🙏🏼

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  5. Just wonderful that you didn’t have to pay for the trickle of water! I especially liked the driftwood. I seem to always carry home something from the beach so I have tiny bits around my place.

    The flowers were so beautiful! The Rhodie’s as we call them, were exceptional this year. There are several trees of them on the Capitol campus.

    Thank you for the tour!

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    • “I seem to always carry home something from the beach.” You and Peggy, Wendy!
      We went from one amazing flower to the next. And then we had the drift wood and beautiful coast to boot!

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  10. Great photos – as usual!

    How much beach glass did you bring home in your pocket?

    I have some interesting beach glass projects I would like to make. I will ask my husband to try to make some nice glass for me in the rock tumbler.

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    • Thanks. Laughing about the beach glass. Gathering it was seriously frowned upon. So, for the record. None. Grin.
      Be interesting if you can pull it off in a tumbler. I’d like to know.

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  11. Splendid array of nature and art, Curt! There’s plenty of weathered glass on the beaches in Sydney harbour, too, where partygoers left their brown and green and white bottles for nature to sculpt.

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  15. Peggy is right; that is the Buddha! I agree with the first comment: this whole post is wonderful. That owl sculpture is so cool, and the gorgeous pink flowers on the edge of the cliff, and also the many textures and blooms you both captured expertly. Loved the Pitcher Plant and the Inner Light photo, and the Jurassic plant.

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