GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Enchanting Beach Access Brimming with Color!

7 hours ago
2 min read

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! July 2026.

Enchanting Beach Access Brimming with Color!

Recently, I had the pleasure to take a trip up to the Bay Area to be with my daughter, Erica and her kids for a long weekend. We rented an Airbnb. We have rented this beautiful home before. The home is just a stone’s throw from having your feet in the sand.

As one approaches the entrance to the beach you are greeted by flowering shrubs, succulents, all bright colors either side of the path beckoning you forward to the white sand and blue ocean beyond.

Stinson Beach with my daughter and family. Photo credit: Francesca Filanc.

Erica and Ruby going for a swim. Photo credit: Francesca Filanc.

Photo Credit: Jade Tanamachi - the author's granddaughter.

Sand dollar. Photo credit: Jade Tanamachi - the author's granddaughter.

One day as I strolled down the path to the ocean, a lovely lady was watering the plants by hand.

"Did you plant all these colorful flowers and plants?"

"Yes," the lady cheerfully responded with a smile. "I love to garden and we have owned this little beach cottage for many years. It gives me so much joy to keep this area looking colorful."

I let her know that I also love to garden. Debbie invited me to see her beautiful garden. What a difference it makes to add beauty to the area where you live.

Bright orange and yellow poppies, fuchsia-colored flowers, and flowering succulents delight the eye and senses. Being greeted by all this beauty; it can’t help but make you smile. As one walks from the beach back to the house your eye’s look down at the flowers adorning the path on either side and then up at the forests on the mountains.

Sara, a dear friend, plants flowers in pots for her neighbors in front of her apartment building. People who live in the neighborhood and passersby enjoy the beauty and say that the flowers brighten their day. "Planting the colorful plants gives me joy."