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A Visit to the American Mediterranean, the Northern California Coast
by Mary Jasch
For the second year I was invited to be a judge at the Noyo Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society’s 34th Annual John Druecker Memorial Rhododendron Show & Plant Sale. The chapter is headquartered in Fort Bragg, California, in Mendocino County, across the road from ice plant-covered bluffs above the Pacific Ocean.
This is a short account of my two-week botanical excursion to Mendocino County and the Sacramento area that included visiting family, judging the show, and visiting gardens – four private, one commercial, two public, several town pocket gardens and long roadsides of wild gardens.
And although these gardens are in California, East Coast gardeners can get some good ideas that are a little different.
Noyo Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society’s 34th Annual John Druecker Memorial Rhododendron Show & Plant Sale
The Noyo Chapter of ARS is composed of a dedicated, generous and humble membership who pitched in to help with all aspects of the show. The members proudly tended their plants all year in the hope that one might win a blue ribbon. This show, the largest in California and possibly the country, highlights the range of glorious rhododendrons that thrive in the special Mediterranean-like climate of the Mendocino Coast. Fort Bragg north to Eureka is the largest production center of hybrid rhododendrons in California, according to the Noyo Chapter’s website.
A few days before the show, show manager Jim Celeri, president Frank Celeri, and secretary (and DIG IT! contributor) Rosalie Stanley, met at Celeri & Son Nursery to design and arrange the main rhododendron display. They chose plants, constructed the staging, marked each pot, deconstructed it and reconstructed the display again the next day at the show.
The day before the show, members loaded six-foot tables and crates of champagne bottles and jugs from the club’s storage space into their vehicles and brought them to Dana Gray Elementary School, the show site. The vessels would display all of the trusses and sprays. Outside, men filled the bottles via a Frankenstinian machine, wiped them off and brought them indoors to be ready for entries.
Other members carried tables into the gymnasium, then covered them in white plastic. They erected educational and photography competition displays.
From 7:00 to 10:30 on the morning of the show, rhodie lovers signed in with trusses and sprays and photos and bonsai. Some brought baked goodies and plants for sale to benefit the club. This year, there were about 650 entries, excluding bonsai, photography and floral arrangements, making the Noyo Chapter’s show quite possibly the nation’s largest.
At 10:30 pairs of judges and attendant clerks entered the show floor. As a novice judge, I enjoyed the first time most – last year when I looked forward to the honor and challenge of employing the rules and awarding winners who worked hard and fit the rules, with all personal feelings aside.
At the end of Show Day 2, trusses and sprays were laid on tables (in case anyone wanted their flowers back), bottles emptied into garbage cans that were wheeled outside and dumped. Members picked up trusses after 4:30, stored bottles, took down tables and the big display, and swept.
Another year of hope and nurture. Another year of members deserving to be judged by the rules.
Rosalie Stanley’s garden, Fort Bragg, is a blend of special plants given to her by rhododendron mentors/breeders and other plant lovers, plus her own artistry in garden design and garden sculpture. Rosalie was intent on growing many deciduous plants to remind her husband of East Coast seasons. Her garden, full of nooks, crannies, surprises and critters, surrounds a house that she helped construct.
Judy & Bob Mathey’s garden, Mendocino in the redwood forest is a secluded jewel. Cymbidium orchids grow outdoors in rows of wine barrels. A deliberate shag lawn softens the tall boles of redwoods and fir. Unusual Japanese maples and conifers, grasses and perennials surround a stone bridge over a stream. Railroad memorabilia is incorporated into the garden.
John Calhoun’s garden, Fort Bragg at the edge of the forest is divine by design. A spiritual garden, it gets color from foliage and drama from the use of architecturally diverse plants. Mounds and spikes, floriferous vines and trees, sanctuaries under towering redwoods, a pool garden, slabs of stone deep in moss, and everywhere ground cover of every hue.
Harbor House Inn garden, Elk sits on a bluff over the Pacific Ocean. What drama! Gardens ramble down to the sea, formal and blustery wild. Artichokes in raised beds mingle with flowers, shrubs, grasses, trees and boisterous ground cover – like nasturtiums scrambling their way to the rocky ocean.
Pocket Gardens of Mendocino are everywhere. No piece of ground is without an eye-catching and interesting planting, including the white canna lilies that pop up everywhere.
Arboretum at University of California, Davis a two-mile botanical gem along the Putah Creek. We start in the Ruth Risdon Flower Garden full of color, exquisite roses, and bizarre-looking perennials, then the fragrant Carolle White Garden with white acacia that smells like vanilla ice cream, and an astounding collection of oaks in the Peter J. Shields Oak Grove. Oaks from Persia, Portugal, Holly Oak, Island Oak and, of course, Coast Live Oak with branches sweeping the ground, and even Quercus alba!
Two weeks is just not enough. Too bad I didn’t get to see the giant redwoods saved here, and the collections of acacia (which I love), conifers and a garden of native plants. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden, which I missed but have seen several times.
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published May 20, 2011
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