Good morning and welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging! A month ago, I had to run errands around the town of Sonoma and decided to stop at Cornerstone to walk through the constantly changing Sunset Test Gardens as well as the Cornerstone Gardens.
There are a number of garden-focused shops at Cornerstone. Spoiler alert: today’s blog features supersized whimsy!
During the summer, the gardens are in peak bloom and Cornerstone can be busy with tourists and events. The day I took these pictures, I had the gardens to myself.
I could see the pinwheels in the distance as I started to walk through the gardens. My first reaction was fear that my husband would think this would be a good addition for our garden. Fortunately, he was not with me although he was surprised I did not return home with more whimsy.
February was colder than expected. I fear that my non-California poppies from sprinkled seeds will not sprout. Normally, these are already in bloom like the ones below. I am also skeptical about many of my wildflowers appearing this year.
I love moon gate arches. I wanted to replace the gate at the top of my hill with one but the project started to become overly complex.
After enjoying the gardens, I explored the stores for ideas.
We did buy our Music of the Spheres windchimes here years ago but not the floor to ceiling version. I was entranced the first time I heard these chimes and highly recommend listening to the different tunings. We have one of the medium sized Japanese chimes and a small Gypsy.
Most of the items at the stores are displayed with a sense of humor.
Cornerstone does have wine tasting rooms but another option is Prohibition Spirits for artisanal, small batch spirits. While their Lemoncello is wonderful, my new favorite is the Black Mission Figcello.
My next stop was Sonoma Mission Gardens to pick up my Cornus stolonifera 'Zachary' which is a red twig dogwood with white variegated foliage. I am putting this up on the hill with a similar variety, Cornus alba ‘Elegantissma’.
I love walking around this garden center to get ideas and to admire the beautiful displays.
What is new in your garden?