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Private Gardens, Public Tours
by Katie Tynan

You’ve made the trek up to Butchart Gardens. You’ve visited the Arboretum when the rhodies are in full bloom. Maybe you’ve even called ahead to make a reservation to tour the forests and flower beds of Bloedel Reserve. If you’ve had a chance to enjoy the many public gardens of the Northwest, maybe it’s time to take in one of the private garden tours we are blessed with in our area. Once a year avid gardeners open up their private spaces for public viewing. These annual events are a chance to spend time strolling and admiring and maybe even being inspired to try something new.

If you’ve never been on a tour before, a good place to start is the 19th Annual Bainbridge in Bloom. Lorene Edwards Forkner, owner of specialty nursery Fremont Gardens, calls it “the Grande Dame of local garden tours.” Not only are the gardens “truly spectacular,” but the weekend-long event features food and music, speakers, master gardeners, local artists and craftspeople and, of course, a plant sale. This well-organized tour includes free docent-led shuttles. Leave your car behind and walk onto the Bainbridge Island ferry. Each of the specially arranged shuttles, which pick up tour visitors at the ferry dock, is staffed by a trained volunteer who will answer questions and talk about local history as you travel from garden to garden. You might even decide to get in some bicycling and “Bike the Bloom,” which offers entrance to the gardens at a reduced rate.

Also a short ferry ride away, the 12th Annual Whidbey Island Garden Tour is another of the area’s better known tours. Edwards Forkner advises that “gardens which are on garden tours tend to be unique in some way. Personal expression is key.” This is echoed in the description of the five country gardens on this year’s Whidbey Island tour: “Some offer mystery, complexity and seclusion, while others offer expansive vistas.” Your day of enjoyment will even benefit the environment; a nonprofit corporation has been established with tour proceeds to provide funding to groups working toward the improvement of Whidbey Island’s common habitat.

If you haven’t had your fill of island landscapes, the annual Island Garden Tour sponsored by Vashon Allied Arts is another opportunity for a day-long excursion. Local arts, live music, and even poetry will be part of the festivities, in addition to what are promised as “the most creatively designed gardens in our community.” Event organizers are committed to making sure that “each stop on the tour features garden art by several of Vashon Island’s most accomplished artists.”

Music and gardens together is a key element of the 8th Annual Federal Way Symphony’s Garden Tour. This year’s event offers seven “beautifully landscaped” private gardens. In addition, student musicians from the Federal Way Symphony Summer Music Academy will perform a concert on the grounds of the Village Green Retirement Campus. If you plan ahead, you can reserve a box lunch to enjoy while listening to an afternoon presentation by Seattle P-I garden columnist Marty Wingate.

Further south, on the other side of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, is the waterfront community of Gig Harbor. In its tenth year, the Gig Harbor Garden Tour will expand to a two-day event. Eight private gardens will be open, including one which features a “knot garden,” a formal style of design which dates back to the Renaissance and involves intricate groupings of herbs. Special classes, lectures and events will be offered at local nurseries. The picturesque town itself is worth a visit for its two-mile waterfront walk, galleries, restaurants and upscale shops.

A little closer to home, the 12th Annual West Seattle Garden Tour is a chance to spend a day visiting and enjoying some of that neighborhood’s “signature residential gardens.” Some are created by serious plant collectors with specimens from around the world, while others make use of native plants in natural settings. The eight participating homeowners generously open their gardens to benefit community-based nonprofit organizations and projects promoting horticultural education and community gardens.

The fourth annual Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park is unique in that each of the six featured gardens will have artists at work and musicians performing. On the day of the tour, a Garden Market Fair will be held on the lower level of the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre, where Ciscoe Morris will be broadcasting his weekly gardening program live. In addition to having Master Gardeners on hand to answer gardening questions, there will be vendor booths offering plants and garden merchandise.

The Georgetown Art and Garden Walk takes place in a neighborhood known for its diverse and vibrant arts community. Many of the gardens are owned by artists, and that creativity is reflected in wonderful groupings of plants, found objects, plenty of color, and what Edwards Forkner refers to as “out there kinds of things.” This tour is also different in that it’s free so you can decide at the last minute if it feels like a good day to get out and peek into other people’s backyards.

So whether it’s to inspire your own gardening efforts, to renew yourself in beautiful surroundings, or simply to have a chance to snoop and enjoy someone else’s hard work, now’s the time to plan your own venture into the world of private gardens.

Katie Tynan is the calendar editor for Seattle Woman.

©2007 Caliope Publishing Company