Marching Through Sonoma's Gardens

Cherry Blossoms along Eastiside Road. Photo Courtesy Beth Costa & Wine Road.

It may still technically be winter for a couple of more weeks, but Sonoma County bursts into bloom about this time of the year – in fact, the region’s many cherry trees began bursting with pink blooms back in mid-February, and everything from magnolias to nectarine trees are showing plenty of color about now. Another colorful plant to look for right now: the enchanting yellow mustard plants that carpet area vineyards throughout winter and early spring. Here are a few fragrant and colorful public gardens you might want to amble through this time of year.

Downtown Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Home & Gardens, the former property of the eponymous horticulturist who developed hundreds of plants, fruits, and nuts through cross-breeding, contains more than an acre of specimen gardens – you can also tour the home in which Burbank resided until his death in 1926.

Off Hwy. 121 south of the town of Sonoma, the Gardens of Cornerstone Sonoma offer a remarkable (and free) tour of highly creative garden installations, each designed by a different landscape architect of note – there’s tremendous variety and creativity at play here, from Mario Schjetan’s “Small Tribute to Immigrant Workers” to Yoji Sasaki’s tranquil “Garden of Visceral Serenity.”

Head just north to Glen Ellen’s Quarryhill Botanical Garden to tour some 21 acres of flowering trees, shrub-fringed ponds, and ornamental gardens. Set upon the hilly remains of an abandoned quarry, this spectacular site also makes for an enjoyable morning hike.

So pack a picnic lunch and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, and head for Sonoma’s gardens – April’s fragrant roses and May’s orange poppies and pink rhododendrons aren’t far behind.