Coastal Spring Flowers

This is a favorite place of ours...a little garden tucked away in the center of what used to be Oceanside, one of five little coastal towns that got merged into one big lump labeled 'Lincoln City'. It is right in the middle of little beach cottages, and is named after the lady that used to live there and tend a big lot of flowers and shrubs. One of the best parts about this garden is that there is no sign on the highway, so most don't know it's there unless you are a local, or stumble upon it as we did one day.

We visited it last week, and it was the absolute best time of year. It was soul-enriching to view these wonderful plants and flowers that our creative God has blessed us with. There are HUGE rhododendrons there...and I say the bigger the better! Many are probably 60-80 year old plants, just like trees. They grow them big on the coast.

There were azaleas by the bunch, and lilacs too. But you are going to enjoy several photos of rhodies because I took lots.

They have gardens and gardens of all kinds and sizes of plants, and I really like the ground covers. There is a lot of shade, and these forget-me-knots like the shade. So very cheery.

See what I mean about reaching to the heavens? These are way over my head. Every year, each season I say this plant or that flower is my favorite...but it always comes back to rhododendrons. They really are my all-time favorite.

These are two of the smaller bloom varieties, and they are so pretty side by side, cheek to jowl.

There is great peace as well as beauty in a garden. My imagination runs riot thinking what Adam and Eve enjoyed. The insurance man was checking out the fragrance, some are delightful.

I love the colors of dark green with rose, pink and white. These are truly the colors of spring. I also love the way the buds are dark pink then lighter as they open and finally almost white fully bloomed. Isn't it amazing?

Up close and personal... the delicate beauty is awe-inspiring.

Finally leaving the rhodies, here is another favorite, shy violets. They hide in the shade, and peep out from under their heart leaves. You really should double-click on this photo to see the violets at their best. The violets are fragile and gone so quickly, but what a wonderful woodland carpet they make.

Even the grass was blooming with flowers. These were so pretty I just had to take their picture too. If you double click here you can see the lavender blush these have. Even the simplest of flowers are works of art.

As we were leaving, I snapped these cheerful yellow blooms surrounding the sign post. This garden is cared for by community volunteers and there is no charge to visit. Can you believe that?? There is still something free in the world, and it's a great blessing. My hat is off to the ladies that tend and love this little garden.

May is rhododendron month in the Willamette Valley as well as on the coast. We saw huge wild rhododendrons up and down the highway along the coast. These are very tall, but always the same variety...same color of pink. They also grow wild up the Mt. Hood highway and bloom in May/June. Oregon in spring is truly a beautiful place, and as Julie says "it makes you glad to be alive!"

The wild rhodies were so pretty mixed in with the native coastal green shrubs. As we drove down through Florence on our way home, we noticed they were having a 'Rhododendron Days' annual celebration that week-end. Now that's my kind of town! Lord, thank you for flowers, trees and shrubs, for blooms, bark and leaves. Thank you for giving us plants that are for nothing more than beauty in our world...because you care about beauty.