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UPCOMING Workshops & Events
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Pumpkin Night!
October 27 | 4:00pm to 7:00pm
Come dressed in your Halloween best and light up the night with some creatively carved gourds and painted pumpkins. More details below!
Coastal Cornucopia
November 3 | 1:00pm to 5:00pm
The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens is hosting an abundant celebration of fungi, farming, and fermentation in the organic Vegetable Garden and new Education Center located in the restored historic farmhouse. More details below!
Mushroom Walks
Each Monday November 12 – December 17 | 1:30pm to 3:30pm
Enjoy an identification walk and learn mushroom lore with Naturalist and Mycologist, Mario Abreu each Monday from November 12 through December 17 (Nov 12, Nov 19, Nov 26, Dec 3, Dec 10, Dec 17). Mushroom Walks are free with regular Gardens admission.
Gala 2018
November 17 | 6:00pm to 9:00pm
As crisp fall air gives way to long winter nights, we gather in the spirit of the season offering an exclusive viewing of the Gardens aglow. Be the first to stroll the scintillant paths of brilliant color. The cozy tent will be transformed into a dazzling fantasia of sparkling ice and snow complete with music, drink, and sumptuous bites. Tickets are $100 each and can be purchased by calling 707-964-4352 ext 10 or you can buy them in person at The Garden Store.
Seed Cleaning Jamboree
November 20 | 12:00pm to 8:00pm
Victory Garden for Peace is hosting a workshop covering the basics of seed saving. Join us at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens and bring your seeds! There is no charge for this workshop. Class size is limited to 25 participants. CLICK HERE to register for the Seed Cleaning Jamboree.
Festival of Lights
November 23 - December 16 | Doors open at 5:00pm; last entry at 7:00pm and lights out at 7:30pm
The Gardens invites you to take a stroll along our twinkling pathways lined with inventive displays. The 9th annual Festival of Lights will run rain or shine each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening from November 23 through December 16, 2018. Tickets are available now! Adult tickets are just $10 and children age 16 and under are free.
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Pumpkins and gourds galore
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Pumpkin Night Party
Saturday, October 27 from 2:00PM to 7:00PM
Cost: Regular Gardens admission... this means free for MCBG Members!
Join us this Saturday for an autumn bash for all ages. Come dressed in your Halloween best and light up the night with some creatively carved gourds and painted pumpkins. Vote for your favorite pumpkins, enjoy spooky games, trick-or-treating, haunting music by DJ Nutrishious, and fall treats.
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Enter the Pumpkin Contest!
Entry Drop-off: OCT 27 between 11:00AM and 3:00PM
To enter your carved or designed pumpkin simply complete an entry form* and deliver your creation(s) to the Gardens between 11:00AM and 3:00PM on Saturday, October 27. Entry forms are available at The Garden Store and online: Pumpkin Contest Entry Form. Prizes will be awarded in four categories: Adult (age 18 and up), Teen (ages 13–17), Junior (ages 7–12), Kid (ages 6 and under).
*One entry form per pumpkin, multiple entries accepted. Please bring your own flameless light source for carved pumpkins. If you would like, you may pick up your pumpkin(s) on Sunday, October 28 between 9:00AM and 5:00PM.
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Autumn changes around the Gardens
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MCBG Lead Gardener, Jaime Jensen gives you a few fall highlights
to look for on your next visit.
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Fall color in the garden is created by high bush blueberries, which contrasts beautifully with the native coltsfoot in the Woodland Garden. Red twigged dogwood and midwinter fire are making nice fall color as well.
There are also a few nicely colored Japanese maples adding a zing of color to the North Trail and Woodland Garden. Jaime is smitten for the colors on the Acer pseudoplatanus ‘Prince Camille de Rohan’ just off the North Trail.
The Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Dawn Redwood’ is changing color and will soon be losing needles. It is one of the few deciduous conifers. (pictured above)
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Our Begonia Collection in the Mae E. Lauer Display House has reached peak bloom... overflowing with big, beautiful begonias —a fitting tribute to the late Mr. Bernard Nelson who passed away earlier this month. This beautiful array of shapes and color were made possible by Mr. Nelson, who donated countless begonia tubers to the MCBG Collection over the past 12 years. He has also donated hundreds of begonias to the MCBG Nursery, giving visitors the opportunity to take one of these spectacular plants home.
As a talented gardener, he kindly shared his begonia expertise with the MCBG staff so that our collection could be maintained at the highest level. His generosity will live on through these magnificent and stunning plants.
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Fungi, farming, and fermentation
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Coastal Cornucopia
Saturday, November 3 from 1:00PM to 5:00PM
Join us for an afternoon brimming with knowledge and nourishment focused on mushrooms, fruits, vegetables, fermentation, and all things autumn. The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens is hosting an abundant celebration in the organic Vegetable Garden and new Education Center located in the restored historic farmhouse. Here is some of what to expect...
- Mario Abreu – Mushroom ID walks
- Eric Schramm — Lecture at 3:00PM
- Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club — Booth and demonstrations
- Mendocino County Herb Guild — Booth and demonstrations
- Mycolab Solutions — Create your own grow at home oyster mushroom kit
- Terra Savia Winery – Wine and olive oil tastings
- Bee Hunter Wines – Wine tastings
- Local craft brews - Beer tastings
- Fresh pressed apple juice tastings
- MCBG Gardener booth – Info and tastings of edible weeds and seed planting for fall cover crops
- Rhody's Garden Café – Mushroom Barley soup tasting
- Seaside String Sisters – American folk music
- Jacquelyn Cisper – Handcrafted mushroom cards and artwork
COST
Cost for adults (age 15 and older) is $25 per person; $15 for Gardens Members. Children are welcome to attend, you can pay their admission on the day of the event at the front entrance ($8 for juniors age 6 to 15; free for children age 5 and under; free for children covered under MCBG Household Memberships). Gardens admission, educational demonstrations, fall bites, brews, wine, and beer tastings included!
Sign up to attend Coastal Cornucopia!
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Garden Store goodies for you
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Greetings from the Staff at The Garden Store!
We are busy preparing for the upcoming holiday festivities, beginning with Pumpkin Night! Come take a peek at some of the changes we’ve been making over the last few months.
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We are happy to say that we are working to bring in more local art. We have beautiful handmade ceramic tiles by Matt Matijcyzk of Point Arena and dichroic glass earrings by Barbara McCray.
We’ve also expanded our greeting card lines to include local artist, Meg Soleagui and Corinna Kaufman. Not to worry... we still have Doug Pollard’s Sacred Point of View cards and the beautiful watercolor cards created by Mishelle Tourtillott.
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We are also excited to be carrying Maruca handbags. Maruca handbags are known for their distinctive textiles. They are designed and woven in U.S. mills and handmade in Boulder, Colorado.
We invite you to come by The Garden Store and have a look for yourself at some of our exciting changes and beautiful new gift items.
Hope to see you soon!
Joey, Vittoria, Lynn, Jeanne, Ginny, Marlee, Marilyn, Maureen, and Sheila
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Education Center in action
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You may have noticed some commotion around the historic farmhouse at the east edge of our Vegetable Garden. Funding from the William and Inez Mabie Family Foundation allowed us to repurpose the farmhouse into an education center. Plenty of work was required to renovate the 100+ year old building including work on the foundation, floors, windows, and stairs. Walls were removed to create a large meeting space and the first floor is now ADA accessible.
We thank the William and Inez Mabie Family Foundation for supporting the Gardens and encouraging us to increase our educational offerings to the community.
The Education Center will be used for workshops, lectures, and events. Be sure to join us for Coastal Cornucopia or one of the upcoming Mushroom ID Workshops, the first exciting educational happenings in the newly refurbished 1890's farmhouse.
The William and Inez Mabie Family Foundation is dedicated to providing philanthropic support to worthy causes, primarily in the areas of education and medicine.
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A little history...
Between 1885 and 1887, the Homestead Act of 1862 opened the way to ownership of various coastal parcels in Mendocino County, through its land grant provisions, including the land now occupied by the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.
In 1893, David Franklin Parrish (then 55), his wife, Sarah Linebough Parrish, six daughters and four sons set out for Fort Bragg to raise potatoes and peas on the bluffs on the ocean. David Parrish, presumably with his sons' help, built the family farmhouse which has now been restored and serves as an Education Center for the Gardens.
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Fall is a great time to plant rhododendrons and other shrubs so they can establish a robust root system over the rainy season, and will be more resilient next summer.
When planting rhododendrons it is important to remember that they like good drainage and acidic soil high in organic material. For these reasons, we plant our rhododendrons with the root ball mostly above the soil level, and then create a gently sloping mound of fir mulch to cover the root ball. This planting method is especially important in areas of heavy, poorly draining soils.
This year we have a wide selection of rhododendrons for sale, including many favorites like Rhododendron ‘Jean Marie’, R. ‘Anah Kruschke’ (pictured above), R. 'President Roosevelt' (pictured below), and R. ‘Black Magic’. Our selection includes more than 40 varieties in shades of pink, purple, yellow, orange, red, white and blue violet. We have also increased our selection of fragrant rhododendrons with ‘Coastal Spice’, ‘Suave’ and ‘Elsie Fry’.
For the species collector we offer Rhododendron spinuliferum (pictured below right) and the fragrant Rhododendron maddenii.
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