Mendocino Coast
Botanical Garden
Fort Bragg, California
July 2008
This 47-acre garden was founded as a
private garden in 1961. It became a public garden in 1992.
Unless you happen to live along the coast north of San
Francisco, it's not easy to visit this garden. We looked at
a map and thought it would be an easy, beautiful drive up
Highway 1 from San Francisco. Beautiful does describe the
drive, but I sure wouldn't call it easy! It's 100 miles of
hairpin turns at 20 miles per hour. Or at least it seemed
that way. A five hour trip through beautiful scenery, but I
thought it would never end.
Believe me though when I say the garden is worth it. I was
a little skeptical when I saw the entry sign along the
highway.
It reminds me of typical roadside attraction signs from the
1960's. Things like "Alligator Land" or "Paul Bunyan"
spring to mind. My wife thought it was cute, so it's
probably just me.
Regardless, when you walk out onto the deck and look into
the garden for the first time, it's magical.
The first view is perennial
beds set in a bright green lawn. Each bed is large and the
diversity of plants is impressive.
This is a great gardening climate, so there is a large and
diverse plant collection. They have everything from a
succulent garden
to major collections of rhododendrons.
We were fortunate to visit when the dahlia collection was
in full bloom. I've never been a big fan of dahlias, but
seeing them in a mass planting, showcasing all the
diversity and splendor they possess, it was impossible not
to love them.
Another spectacular collection is the heaths and heathers
garden. The color and textures of the garden are really
lovely.
I also like the Heritage Rose
Garden, featuring old-fashioned roses collected from
old houses and homesteads in the Mendocino area. It's
nice to see a garden focus on its local horticultural
heritage rather than just growing the latest and
greatest.
There are also collections of Pacific Coast Iris (not in
bloom, sadly), fuchsias and hydrangeas.
If the plant collections aren't enough for you, the other
major feature of the garden is the Pacific Ocean that
borders the property. It provides a pretty spectacular
backdrop and more opportunities for interpretation and
education, which the garden takes advantage of.
Overall, the garden is very well maintained and has done a
good job of labeling the plants. There are a number of nice
interpretive signs but too few explaining the different
collections. I'd like to see signs that explain the
importance of particular collections and why they have the
plants they have. They have a great sign about the tender
rhododendron collection, but nothing for the dahlias or
heathers. But this is a mere quibble. This is a really
spectacular garden. I'd highly recommend it to anyone. And
when we drove back to San Francisco, we drove inland and
took Highway 101. It's not as spectacular a ride but it
took half the time.
To see more photos of the garden, click here.
Click here to visit the official website of
Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden.