My version of camping… nonfat mocha (no whip) and broadband internet. The internet connection at the house is dial-up, and it’s not even like regular dial-up where you wait a few seconds for a page to load. It just tries and tries and tries and either finally loads or simply times out. I started to get the no e-mail shakes and popped into Moody’s Internet Cafe on the last day of my trip.
Posted by Picasa
Ingrid’s Mendo Birds. It’s a must for garden lovers!
The front of her shop… in the background is my really hot ride… my Toyota, um, minivan.
mosaic chair
wow, can you imagine trying to fill that vase with water? and how do you put flowers in it? i guess i should say how do you put flower in it? just kidding. always kidding.
front window of Ingrid’s shop
how many clay people does it take to hold up some succulents?
penguin
bird in hand
more mendo birds
Ok, so we’re on the road now. On expert advice, we decided to stop at the Navarro winery on the way home. The nice wine man recommended the 2001 Pinot Noir… I know… pinots are so trendy since Sideways… but he and my expert were right. It’s lovely. No, I did not sample that day. I was driving.
The Navarro Winery
They have some covered picnic benches on the side and a small garden out front
and grapes… can’t forget the grapes.
Posted by
hand-made hand rail
nasturtiums
Datura? Brugmansia? Datura? Brugmansia?
Alstroemeria
closer view
View from the inside the Bayview cafe. The town is setting up for the annual music festival.
Starting to get crowded… people are arriving for the festival. We’re just leaving.
Lovely little arrangement outside a local shop.
hollyhocks
Posted by Picasa
Viola ‘Etain’ in Mendocino Village 
Salpiglossis still doing it’s wonderful thing in window boxes on Main Street. 
Pink pelargoniums in front of a picket fence 
totem on a local house ||
Posted by Picasa
View from the rental house every night…
Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden shop… and the only kind of bears I ever want to see up close… wooden ones.
Plants for sale at the Mendocino Bot. Gardens Nursery
The Perennial Garden near the entrance
I photographed plant tags of things I knew I probably wouldn’t remember later… actual plant to follow.
See previous tag
See next pic for I.D.
See previous pic for more armeria alliacea. 😉
Another view of perennial garden… See if you can see find the nursery employee in the photo. I’ll call her “Waldo.”
But of course, it’s Monopsis lutea.
Picture does not do justice… that’s the downfall of visiting the garden at mid-day (i.e. sleeping in).
Yellow flax(phormium).
Succulents growing on old dead log (driftwood?). Looks super cool.
I have one fairy wand (dierama). The garden has many. Life is not fair.
They’re super tall (around 7 feet)!
Uh oh, can you read that? I’ll try to zoom in on it when I have a chance.
How much more pink can a flower get?!
A really large, vivid Montbretia/Crocosmia (no tag).
Metal arch with what looks like a newly planted groundcover bench.
Close-up of the bench.
Dwarf conifers and colorful lobelia, etc.
Colors remain really vivid in Mendo.
bench
pink filipendula… looks like cotton candy.
chartreusy yellow against reddish purple… great color combo.
lots of contrasts in texture
burgundy foliage
ice cream sculpture outside Cowlick’s homemade ice cream parlor at the garden. The taste is out of this world. I had a scoop of blueberry chip and vanilla. oh… ma… god.
a really pretty purple astilbe
another view of the garden
see next pic
It’s pretty dwarf and the florets are huge.
see next pic
oops, rotate counterclockwise in your mind. 😉
to the ocean
fuchsias
fern forest… my friend’s little boy asked if we were in the tropical rainforest. awww…
the Pacific Ocean!
whale bone
are you packing your bags for Mendo yet?
dahlia
near the vegetable garden, almost back to the entrance
wow.
outside the veggie garden
Posted by Picasa
Happiness is… being at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden when the Dahlia Garden is in full bloom. Had a great trip (though not without drama) and gorgeous, sunny, mild weather. I’d love to spend a whole summer in Mendo sometime. Note to self: Win lottery.
I’ll try to post some pics soon.
Posted by Picasa
