Dawn Gardens is an 8 acre garden on a 12 acre piece of property in Grass Valley, CA which is composed of several different gardens with different themes and plants. It is open at least 1 day each month. No admission fee is charged but a donation box is available. See website for schedule:
Dawn-gardens.com
Here is a map of the garden:
FRONT ENTRY GATE:
SPIRAL GARDEN:
The path curves around 3 times and ends up in the center at the Olive tree and a mosaic. If you walk the entire path to the Olive tree and back you have walked 1/2 mile.
DAFFODIL GARDEN
There are more than 50,000 Daffodils planted at Dawn Gardens and they bloom from February thru April in all areas of the garden.
ROCK GARDEN
The rock garden has small plants with seasonal color and many bulbs.
PERENNIAL GARDEN:
There is a 200′ stretch of perennials along the entry driveway. It includes shrubs such as Red Barberry and pink Breath of Heaven. Most of the color is in Summer and Fall with Salvias, Coreopsis, Geum, Iris, Aster, Iberis, Scabiosa, Yarrow and others.
BUCKWHEAT GARDEN:
Completely drought tolerant and native to California. There are 7 different species here.
ROSE GARDEN:
The rose garden has 75 plants and there are another 75 plants throughout Dawn Gardens on fences, arbors and in pots.
THE GRASS GARDEN:
There are about 20 different species of ornamental grasses mixed with a few summer flowering perennials on about 1/2 acre. The best season for the grass garden is August through December because most of the grasses will be blooming.
THE LILY GARDEN:
Many Lilies are planted throughout the Garden with peak bloom times of June and July.
BOG GARDEN:
The bog garden grows where the creek spreads out over the ground at the bottom of the property and is crossed by a wooden bridge. All the plants can tolerate wet soil and the main tree is the Bald Cypress which is a deciduous conifer.
HEATHER GARDEN:
The Heather garden is behind the house on a slope. The main blooming times are July/August and February/March.
LIATRIS GARDEN:
There are 1000 Liatris planted on the mound in front of the house as well as many other places in the garden.
DAYLILY GARDEN:
The daylilies line the driveway and also grow in the Iris garden. The best time for bloom is the end of June and in July.
FRUIT & VEGETABLE GARDEN
The vegetables grow in steel beds on the left and the raspberries and the blueberries grow on the right. The fruit trees grow to the east of the vegetables.
HYDRANGEA GARDENS
There are 2 different Hydrangea gardens – one is mostly H. macrophylla and the other is H. paniculata and H. arborescens hybrids.
RHODODENDRON & AZALEA GARDEN
The Rhododendron and Azalea garden covers about 1/2 acre of land shaded by Oak and Japanese Maple trees. Each Rhododendron plant has a mister at its base to create higher humidity around the plant.
PONDS AND WATER FEATURES:
There are 4 sun ponds connected by a creek and 1 shade pond. There are 9 other water features which add sound and water accents to the garden.
FALL GARDEN
Many plants at Dawn Gardens have beautiful fall colors from mid October to the beginning of December.