Meerkerk Gardens, Greenbank, Whidbey Island
Meerkerk Gardens on Whidbey Island were another of the wonderful gardens that we hoped to visit someday. That day arrived in mid-May. It had been cold and rainy and not many flowers on the hiking trails yet, but still desiring to get out, Bob checked the weather forecast and we aimed for the best, sunniest day to take a long drive out and a ferry back. What a wonderful surprise to find among the pamphlets and maps there was a postcard with this lovely view of the pathway and rhododendrons in bloom. No photographer is credited with the picture, and the card has no publisher or distributor, suggesting that the postcards were printed for advertising purposes. A donation fee of $5 per person is posted on the pay box found just outside the entrance to the gardens with additional donations appreciated. Some of the proceeds from Washington State rhododendron vanity license plates also go to help support the gardens.
Sign pointing the way to the gardens
Entrance to the garden
These gardens were founded by Ann and Max Meerkerk in the early 1960s. The idea and vision for a woodland garden came after they visited the Rothchild’s Exbury Gardens in England. Ann was a member of both the Washington Park Arboretum and the American Rhododendron Society, Seattle Chapter. Originally, the Meerkerks had 13 acres where they collected and hybridized rhododendrons. Rhododendrons are Washington’s state flower. The gardens were gradually expanded to 10 acres of rhododendrons surrounded by 43 acres of woodlands.
Carved eagle on post
There are more than 1,500 varieties of rhododendrons and hybrids featured in the gardens. Individual gardens blend together with signs to identify the areas by garden clubs or gardeners. Throughout the gardens are wooden benches, some are plain others are decorated. We also found a “Secret Garden” with fairies and in a different area a carved Eagle.
Fairy in the Secret Garden
The Gardens were bequeathed to the Seattle Rhododendron Society in 1979 for a “peaceful woodland garden with an emphasis on rhododendrons and companion plants.”
The working area with plants for sale
Today the gardens are open to the public and managed by the Meerkerk Rhododendron Garden nonprofit established in 2002. There are over 4 miles of trails in the 53 acres of woodland gardens. Special events held on the grounds include the Spring Nursery Sale, Mother’s Day Concert, and Octoberfest.
Some of the things we saw the day we visited.
For additional information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkerk_Rhododendron_Gardens
https://www.meerkerkgardens.org/history
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