Filoli in Spring

Filoli in spring – what could be more beautiful? Except maybe Filoli in spring after an exceptionally wet winter! My parents were in the San Francisco Bay Area last week, so my aunt, folks, and I headed for Woodside, CA to visit the Filoli estate garden.

Grand entrance with tulips and wisteria

Family pose in front of the wisteria

My aunt and I have made a couple of seasonal visits (see Filoli in Winter and Filoli in Summer to compare). We enjoyed both visits – seeing the bones in winter, and fruition in summer. But spring is the masterpiece and main event.

Sunken Garden with tulips

The Garden House from the Southwest Terrace

I was blown away at the intensity, beauty and variety of wisteria, tulips in shades of pink and purple, masses of forget-me-nots, azaleas, lilacs, cherry trees and more. When the sun came out, the petals glowed.

Shades of blue and purple on the Southwest Terrace

Tulips and forget-me-nots in the Walled Garden

The palette leaned toward pinks, blues, and purples, but was punctuated with reds, whites, melons, and shades of new spring green.

Tulips in purples and white in the Walled Garden

Swath of forget-me-nots in the Walled Garden

We might have stepped into a Claude Monet painting of his garden in Giverny, France. Every vista, view, and turn of a corner brought a new delight and shade of beauty.

Azaleas near the Wedding Place

Olive Orchard carpeted with forget-me-nots