Meerkerk Gardens offers bountiful color and wildlife

Photos cannot capture the magical experience of walking through Meerkerk Garden during peak bloom season.

Around each bend of the winding trails is a different riot of color, with hues contrasting in surprising ways from the flowers on some 2,000 rhododendrons and more than a few azaleas that thrive in the Greenbank sanctuary. Some of the blossom-laden bushes tower over visitors while more diminutive species welcome the curious to bend down and take a closer gander.

Look closely and one can see the bushes are alive with buzzing bees, butterflies and birds. A slight and changing perfume fills the air.

Those who want to visit the little slice of paradise during its most colorful period had better hurry. Ron Newberry, the garden manager and former News-Times reporter, said the peak blossoming period runs from late March to early June. May is especially beautiful because the azaleas come into bloom with “really exquisite color.”

“Meerkerk used to be Whidbey’s best kept secret, but not anymore,” he said. “We’re really proud that we’ve been able to share the gardens with an increasing number of people.”

A recent Mother’s Day event, for example, drew more than 480 people to an especially idyllic scene, with children dressed in their finest dancing and racing around a gazebo as Nathaniel Talbot performed with Puget Sound as a backdrop.

Yet Newberry, the only full-time employee at the nonprofit organization, said the 10 acres of gardens and 43 acres of woodlands have much to offer visitors all year round. The gardens are planted so there’s a cascade of blooms into late summer. In addition, the staff is working on projects to add interesting features and activities that aren’t flower-dependent.

Newberry is especially fond of the reflecting ponds located in a particularly tranquil area that borders the gardens and the woods.

On Thursday, he pointed to shockingly large newts swimming in one of the ponds as well as their egg masses attached to plants just beneath the surface. He said the amphibians thrive in the ponds since there are no fish to eat them, though Newberry has seen owls swoop down on the pond for a newt-flavored meal. The proximity of the woodlands means that the adult newts can travel to a suitable habitat without having to traverse dangerous roads.

In fact, Meerkerk is alive with creatures. During a short tour, a barred owl sat in a tree and ignored the people staring at it. Squirrels scampered in search of pine cones. A black-tail deer not-so-gingerly yanked leaves from a bush. The day before, a doe paraded her newborn fawn through the gardens.

Newberry was delighted to see that red-bellied sapsuckers have returned for the season. The distinctive birds, he said, are often seen sipping the sap from a paper birch tree next to the stone gatehouse, which serves as an auspicious welcome for visitors.

Newberry even saw a pod of passing orcas from the gardens, which offer picturesque views of the Sound framed by flowers.

“We like to have conditions here that support wildlife in both the gardens and the forested areas,” he said, adding that he’s working on getting the property certified through a Washington State University forest stewardship program.

In addition to trails and beauty, Meerkerk Gardens offers plants for sale at a nursery, popular tours of the grounds and classes. It’s located at 3531 Meerkerk Lane in Greenbank and is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission is $10 for adults while kids under 13 are admitted for free. Dogs on leashes are welcome.