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UPCOMING Workshops, Walks, & Events
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Mushroom Walks
Each Monday now through December 23 | 1:30pm to 3:30pm
Enjoy an identification walk and learn mushroom lore with Naturalist and Mycologist, Mario Abreu. Remaining 2019 dates include: Nov 11, Nov 18, Nov 25, Dec 2, Dec 9, Dec 16, Dec 23. Mushroom Walks are free with regular Gardens admission.
Gala 2019
November 23 | 6:00pm to 9:00pm
We invite you to an exclusive viewing of the Gardens aglow during our annual holiday soirée. Tickets are $100 each and include live music, food, wine, beer, bubbly, a special preview of the lighted gardens, and the chance to win raffle prizes! Tickets are limited and selling very quickly, purchase yours by calling 707-964-4352 ext 16 or you can buy them in person at The Garden Store. CLICK HERE for more details.
Festival of Lights ~ 10th anniversary!
Each Fri, Sat, and Sun, November 29 – December 22 | doors open 5:00pm; last entry 7:00pm
The Gardens invites you to take a stroll along our twinkling pathways lined with inventive displays. Tickets are available now! Adult tickets are just $10 and children age 16 and under are free. CLICK HERE for the nightly calendar and to purchase tickets.
Mushroom ID for Beginners
Nov 30, Dec 14, or Dec 21 | 10:00am to 3:30pm
Learn the basic taxonomic identifying features that distinguish mushrooms from each other, where each unique mushroom species can be found, when they can be found, and the myths associated with them. This workshop is offered on three Saturdays, choose your preferred date to attend. Class size is limited! CLICK HERE for more details.
Mushroom Botanical Art Workshop
December 7 and 8 | 10:00am to 4:00pm
Learn to make “Mushroom Portraits in Watercolor” with world-class botanical illustrator Alexander (Sasha) Viazmensky. Sasha is traveling from his home in St. Petersburg, Russia to teach a botanical art class on the Mendocino Coast! All levels of experience are welcome to enroll. This two-day workshop is co-sponsored by the Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club and the Gardens. CLICK HERE for more details.
DIY Wreath Workshop
December 7 | 10:00am or 1:00pm
Learn how to create a unique wreath incorporating beautiful, natural elements. This "make and take" workshop is a great way to add some holiday cheer to your home. The workshop registration fee is $45 per participant (price includes fresh greenery, ribbon, and tools for you to create a wreath to take home). CLICK HERE for more details.
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Sharing our garden by the sea
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What to do when the power is out? Get outside! We hope you were all able to take advantage of a calming stroll through the Gardens during the power outage in October. Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens remained open during the planned outage offering free admission for all until power was restored. We would like to thank all who visited and donated during those off-grid days.
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FREE admission for evacuees
The Gardens kept the giving going by extending free admission for firefighters and local fire evacuees. Your visit is on us if you have been displaced and find yourself on the Mendocino Coast.
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Have you noticed the newly smoothed pathways at the Gardens? Thank to support from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County's Jack T. and Chatter C. Bishoff Capital Grant, we have been working diligently during the dry season to create a safer and more sustainable network of pathways. With staff taking the lead and volunteers lending equipment, time, and expertise, we have already repaired some of our roughest and most commonly used sections of trail with road base and quarry dust. We hope the trail improvements will prove a welcome treat for feet, wheels, and paws.
Pictured above: MCBG staff Pete Baker puts the finishing touches on the North Trail between the Woodland Garden and North Forest.
Pictured below: A side-by-side comparison of the path leading into the Gardens from the entry plaza – before (left) and after (right).
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photos by Roger Adamson
Last month MCBG staff and members of the the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society (MCAS) identified a Spotted Owl in the trees above the North Trail. Tim Bray, President of the MCAS remarked, "It's certainly an unusual place for a Spotted Owl, far from their typical habitat."
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This time of year there is a lot of owl activity as the juveniles are forced out of their parents territories and have to go find their own place. This is called "post-breeding dispersal" and leads to a lot of odd sightings like this one, as the inexperienced juvenile birds wander around looking for a place to live that isn't already occupied by adults.
Take your birding to the next level!
The Gardens offers a range of habitats for breeding, nesting and feeding for more than 187 species of birds that can be seen at the Gardens throughout the year. Every month two Bird Walks are held at the Gardens, led by a Mendocino Coast Audubon Society member. These are scheduled year-round. The Beginning Birding walk is the first Saturday every month at 9:00AM. The Early Bird Walks are held the third Wednesday at 8:30AM November through March (8:00AM April through October).
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The conifers have arrived! We have conifers of all different sizes and textures from a lacy blue foliage of the Gimborn Beauty Hinoke Cypress to the ever popular Whipcord Western Red Cedar, and cute, conical Pixie Dust Alberta Spruce. The most unusual and unique specimens go quickly so come in early for best selection.
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Fall is the best time to plant shrubs, and the MCBG Nursery has Rhododendrons of pinks, purples, yellows, oranges, reds and white. We also offer two local varieties: ‘Noyo Brave’ and ‘Noyo Dream’. And for the first time Rhododendrons propagated from our collection are available including the unique Rhododendron nuttallii x sinonuttallii (Pictured top) and the fragrant R. ciliicalyx and R. maddenii ssp. maddenii.
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Sponsor our beloved community event
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Tis the season ~ Our staff and volunteers have been working for weeks stringing the lights and placing displays for the Festival of Lights at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens! The holiday event is enjoyed by more than 9,000 community members and travelers each holiday season. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, your support can help maintain and improve this treasured community event. We are pleased to offer a range of sponsorship opportunities for businesses and individuals.
We are excited to host our community and the visitors this event brings to Mendocino County and look forward to connecting with you as we prepare for the 10th annual Festival of Lights. If you would like to support this cherished community event, please call Jamie at 707-964-4352 ext 19.
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NEW Carnivorous Plant Display
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Something new is popping up in the filtered shade of our Woodland Garden... We have expanded our plantings of carnivorous plants! Our inventive Gardeners used re-purposed wine barrels (North Coast Brewing Company donated a slew of barrels to the Pack Rat Yard Sale) to create a home for the new display.
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Carnivorous plants gain their energy from the sun, as all plants do, but often grow in very poor soil with little or no nutrients. What makes these plants unique is how they obtain nutrients by trapping and digesting insects and occasionally small frogs and mammals.
Brad Williams, owner and operator of Fort Bragg Carnivores, donated a majority of the plants, offered his expertise in designing a suitable home for the plants, and helped with the planting. A peat moss and sand mixture creates the boggy acidic environment necessary for them to thrive. We loaded the bottom half of the barrels with perlite to fill in the extra space not needed by these shallow rooting plants.
We ask that you DO NOT TOUCH the plants in order to keep them healthy and happy. The extra work from opening and closing without any nutrients to consume can weaken and kill the carnivorous wonders. Be sure to check out the unique display during their fall peak!
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Add some carnivorous plants to your landscape!
Brad and his wife Sheana (picutred above) sell a variety of Sarracenia, Flytraps, and Sundews. Find out more about Fort Bragg Carnivores at carnivorousplantresource.com or email them to arrange for a tour of their nursery.
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Our annual funding appeal
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This past year, with the help of your annual gift, we have been able to brighten our display house, repair our trails, increase our educational programming and improve our community events. Please consider making a donation before the end of the year and help us keep this natural wonder growing strong. This annual request for your support makes a critical difference.
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DID YOU KNOW? A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) allows IRA owners over the age of 70 ½ to transfer part or all of their annual Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) directly to a qualified charity such as the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Click here to learn more!
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The next Master Gardener training will begin on Thursday, January 16, 2020 and run on Thursday afternoons through April. The 2020 class will be held at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens! CLICK HERE for more information on how to apply.
Pictured above: The 2018 Master Gardener class posing in front of the Perennial Garden.
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The Garden Store has stocked up on new and unique items just in time for the season of giving! We are excited to add affordable and inspired art from the Humboldt Artisans Group. Some of the new goodies include HumYum small batch caramels, Erin Austin botanical jewelry, Blue Heron Botanicals lip therapy, West Coast Woodworking one-of-a-kind cutting boards, Delaune Birdhouses sculptural Coastal Redwood and Western Cedar homes for birds, and Humboldt Hands goat milk soaps.
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Hey fungi fanatics!
It is that time of year again... the Gardens' mushroom collection is just beginning to break ground. Get in the spirit with mycological hats, shirts, décor, books, and so much more.
Speaking of functional artwork... check out our Dom Chi mushroom harvesting knives.
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Follow The Garden Store on Facebook for the latest and greatest.
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