Mendocino Gardens, Ft. Bragg, CA May 11, 2013

The host lady kept making the point that these are Botanical Gardens and they are quite different than other gardens. "Botanic gardens are institutions holding documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education."
To find the location of World Wide Botanical Gardens in 148 countries:
http://www.bgci.org/garden_search.php
I was overwhelmed with the number of varieties and the plantings looked so natural. Marion only went half way, but I had a wonderful time wandering all the way to the coast and back. It was a beautiful day in God's country. I can't help telling a joke: The visitor to a well manicured garden commented to the gardener, "My, God does beautiful work." The gardener scratched his chin and replied, "Well, you should have seen it when God had it by himself."
http://www.gardenbythesea.org/

Sign on Highway 1

What a welcome and open trellis!

My beloved gardeners.

Which way to go first?

Another beautiful trellis.

A little pond.

"Reflections"

"Spiral 2"

I've never seen a flower
on these succulents
this beautiful and this large!

I've never seen Heather grow, either!

I love it when a wild flower appears!

At home in the garden!

Big Leaf Rhododendron

Looks like azaleas to me! LOL.

You are here!

Love, love, love this gate.
We are going from organized gardens
to more woodlands with paths.

Another Rhododendron.

Fuchsia love it here!
Not in Florida. I've tried.

Marked for the kids.

Big concrete eggs!

The Fairy House.

Made in a circle of trees, covered with branches.

I first thought it was a pond.
Isn't this wonderful!

But it's just grass!

On the south end of the property.
There is another sign explaining who
the pioneers were and what they did.

Pioneer Graves.

Some steps.

A bench.

Humm, I'm running out of trail!

Oops! The trail ends at a creek!

I turn around and admire the flowers!

From my eye level.

Close up of these shade loving plants.

Ahh, there's the road!

Dahlia's.

We're a little early for many
Dahlia blooms, but I got to
rest in this delightful pavilion.

A great helpful sign, but
I didn't see or hear any birds.

These trees are not dead, the green is high
overhead. It did feel like a cathedral.
Very interesting pine cones, too.

Pacific Ocean

Just listen to the roar.

No beaches here.

A beautiful day.

By now I'm really needing a
rest room. The arrow on the
trash bin points to"The Cliff House"

But, NO, the Cliff House is a
wonderful building with a view
and more garden information.
p.s. I did find an outhouse nearby.

Ocean: Check
Restroom: Check
Cliff House: Check
Exit: YES - a long way back.

Blue Star Memorial By-Way.
Mendo-Lake District
by a beauitful piece of driftwood.
Still plenty of things to see.

Unknown bush.

Up close of the bush on the left. I'm
going to need many resources to
identify all the flowers I've seen on this trip.

Aren't these pretty!

Back to the Rose Garden.

And the gift shop
on the way out. <smile>

The birdhouses were up for
auction to help fund the garden.