It’s autumn, my favorite season. I’m pressing apple cider, harvesting pumpkins, and looking for fall colors in the trees. This time of year, I seek out trails crowned with golden maples and love to kick the leaves at my feet. But this week, after noticing the sign on the road, I decided to see the fall fashions at Meerkerk Gardens. After a long summer drought and recent smoke and ash from wildfires, admittedly, the garden wasn’t looking it’s best. I’d normally go in the spring when all the flowers are bursting forth. I’d never visited in the fall and was curious to see how the garden dressed for the season. The bus let me off at the highway and I walked the quiet road a half mile to the entrance. A cheery bouquet of golden asters greeted me. The iconic stone gatehouse was shaded by port-colored leaves. The contrast from spring to fall was most noticeable along the walkways, where there are so many rhodies and flowers blooming in spring. It made me pay closer attention. Instead of being bombarded with color and fragrance, the garden was more subtle, whispering “come look over here, and over here.” I found several species of flowers donning shades of pink and purple. There was lavender, heather, short succulents and tall foxglove. Native plants are familiar, but most of these were foreign to me and all the more alluring. My camera found them fascinating, as did the pollinators. Bees bustled from blossom to blossom collecting and sharing their essential gifts. I turned west toward the ponds, crossed between them, and climbed up into the woods. These trails are natural with tall cedars and firs, old growth snags and stumps. They’re more narrow and form a mile long loop. Ravens and wrens, chickadees and kinglets sang out from the shrubs along they way. With still some time before my bus, I returned to the gardens. Wandering to the far side, my path led me through a canopy of green with varying textures as spikey as a Monkey Puzzle tree and as soft as a Sequoia. Even the evergreens showed their autumn colors as every odd cedar branch turns a golden hue and rhodies dropped yellow leaves upon the grass. I turned onto a narrow trail with a birdhouse and bird bath occupied by a stone still songbird and emerged by a picnic table under a mighty fir. Stopping to eat my lunch I spied the gazebo and surrounding lawn which has hosted many musical events and weddings. For their October Fest on Oct. 8, the Shifty Sailors will occupy the gazebo with their new accordion player, Lori Hansen. A food truck will grill bratwursts and BBQ or bring your own picnic. You can even take a bit of the garden home by buying rhodies for just $2 each to support the garden upkeep. I gazed over the lawn through the gazebo toward the water imagining the festivities, but on this day, it was quiet. The distant shores floated on a sapphire sea. Walking up the lane I followed a couple on their way out. He had the dog on a leash and she carried a potted rhody. We strolled beneath a canopy of plum red trees and golden maples launching tiny helicopters. As I walked toward the highway to catch my bus, I thought about the many volunteers that tend these gardens, and how many people enjoy them each season. I used to bring my good friend Wilma here on Mother’s Day. As she grew older we took advantage of the many benches placed in sun and shade. In her final years we used a wheelchair on these trails. Wilma was my garden mentor and this was a special place for us. I will think of her here, no matter what the season. Maribeth The gardens are open daily 9am-4pm. There's a $5 entrance fee. On Oct. 8th the entrance fee will include the October Fest entertainment from 11am-3pm. There is no entry fee to walk the nature trails on the west side of the gardens. Get details here. Directions: From Highway 525 about 2 miles south of the Greenbank Store, turn east onto Resort Road. Continue for a quarter of mile and turn north onto Meerkerk Lane for another quarter of a mile.
By Bike and Bus: Fare-free Island Transit Route 1 bus will come within a half mile of the entrance. If going north ask the driver to let you off at Resort Road. If going south, ask to be let off at the Hillside Church on Plantation Place and walk back about 100 yards to Resort Road. Each bus can carry 2 bikes. Resort Road is very quiet for cyclists or pedestrians but please wear bright clothes for visibility. There is no bus service on Sundays. Mobility: The wide gravel paths through the gardens are accessible for wheelchairs. There are many benches along the way. The nature trails on the west side of the park are narrow but almost level.
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Maribeth Crandell has been a hiking guide in the Pacific NW for over 20 years. She's lived on Whidbey and Fidalgo Island for decades. As a frequent bus rider she easily makes connections between trails and transit. Archives by date
April 2024
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