Dahlias!... at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

There are so many plants to see and learn about at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens just outside of Fort Bragg, California. But this time I was mainly stalking dahlias!

(Driving to the garden during the worst fire season California has almost ever had, the car was being lightly showered with ash and the sky was an ominous gray all day from the terrible fire in Lake County. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people affected by this horrible disaster…..)

The Garden is a great place to visit when you are deciding what to plant in your own garden, both plant wise and design wise! You will see mostly labeled plant material in all it’s full grown glory!

A stunning perennial garden is the first area you will encounter:

Who wouldn’t love to transplant this garden right into their own backyard! The use of grasses with Gloriosa Daisy, colorful low growing ground covers and big strappy flax was inspiring. Next walk around the corner to a lovely natural bench in a shady, fern filled spot…

And then on to the succulent garden:

And don’t miss the Heather garden along the way:

Now go through the gate and over the stream:

And… you’ll find the huge, colorful dahlia garden! While some wouldn’t mind, I was disappointed with the fact that many of the plants were not labeled making it hard, if not impossible, to buy them anywhere. I noticed in the nursery (which is great!) that nearly all the dahlias were labeled “assorted”. I will leave you with some images from the beautiful garden. I have labeled those that I could and only added a few that I could not identify (since I know how frustrating it is to find a dahlia I love only to find I can’t identify or purchase it for my own garden!) Enjoy!  Next post will be the fabulous vegetable garden at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden! But for now, enjoy the dahlias!

For more information go to: http://www.gardenbythesea.org/