Bonsai!

I see that I posted about the Pacific Bonsai Museum at this time last year. When we visited on Sunday, I had forgotten that we chose the same destination for a "field trip" last Memorial Day weekend. 

The Pacific Bonsai Museum is an outdoor gallery of very special specimens of "tortured trees". About 60 of the large collection are on display at any one time. It shares grounds with the Rhododendron Species Foundation Garden, which we also visited, on the campus of what was formerly the headquarters of the Weyerhaeuser Co., a forest products industry. The campus is beautiful, with woodlands and a large meadow, and there are differing opinions as to what will become of it, but some development is inevitable. What ever happens, the Bonsai Museum and the Rhododendron garden are to be protected.

The path to both from the parking lot lets you know this is a special place. 

 Ground cover -Canadian dogwood

 A few tropical trees are indoors in a greenhouse gallery. 

 The rest are displayed like this, on outdoor benches. 

 That green wall is actually well trimmed small leaf ivy on a cyclone fence. 

 Currently there is a display honoring Dan Robinson, a local bonsai artist who likes a more natural style, as found in the wild, which he calls "Gnarly". 

This place is a Mecca for Bonsai oficianodos, and just a wonderful place to visit and learn for those appreciative of the beauty of living art. 

Memorial Day

Memorial Day reminds us of the cost of war.

Memorial Day is a day to seek peace. 

A Day on the Island

Tom had pots of geraniums to deliver to the deck of the Whidbey Island cabin. We decided to take a day trip.

The sky was blue, the tide was out

 Deer Lagoon

and there were eagles on the beach.

 Useless Bay

 The cabin garden was aglow with California poppies. 

 The poppies were punctuated with the purple of nepeta and columbine. 

 Smoke bush (cotinus) and pink columbine. 

We spent about an hour and a half weeding and grooming, then ate the lunch we brought with us and relaxed for a while. Then we drove across island for a walk about and coffee in Langley. 

 Bunnies abound in Langley. They are feral, prolific reproducers, a mix of native cottontails and domestic escapees that have over-populated the fair grounds and are now running rampant. These baby bunnies were in the lush lawn at the library.   

 Pretty darn cute though. 

 Flowers are everywhere in the street plantings in Langley.

 The garden at Useless Bay Coffee Company is lovely. 

 We enjoyed our coffee al fresco. I cheated. I bought the brownie on the ferry boat on the way over and saved it for just this purpose. Coffee and chocolate!

 And from over my shoulder, the scent of roses. 

 Bees loved the white allium. 

 After strolling through the town, visiting with several shop owners, we returned to the cabin for some down time. I sat on the deck and read. I think Tom napped. Then since we had noticed that The Braeburn, previously a breakfast/lunch only restaurant, was now reopened after extensive remodeling and also now open for "supper", we returned to Langley to dine before heading home. 

 We had yummy pasta. My mac and cheese was great comfort food. Much of it came home with me in a take home carton. The serving was huge. 

After dinner, we sailed away home.