Gardeners have agreed to participate this year, which is enough for Powell River Garden Tour (PRGT) to once again showcase some of the decorative gardens in the area.
How are gardens growing this year? According to master gardener Shirley Cole, fairly well. However, as with any year, a lot depends on the weather.
“We have to look back a year ago to understand a few of the things that might be happening,” said Cole. “Flowers and gardens are at least two weeks early.”
Previously held on Victoria Day long weekend, the tour was moved to June due to the month’s designation as rose month. PRGT committee member Diana Wood said people want to see roses. In 2015, there was nothing to see, roses or otherwise.
“Last year, we didn’t have a garden tour,” said Wood.
According to Wood, Powell River has a limited number of gardens and some people who have attended previous tours prefer not to see the same gardens each time, “even though those gardens keep changing every year,” she said.
The 10 gardens on the tour are spread throughout Powell River area. Ticket holders can drop in on any garden at any time during the day. Wood said the way the tour is organized, visitors are not required to visit each garden in order. In fact, she suggested not to, because of limited parking.
“We want people to spread them out, maybe choose number three first, or garden number five,” she said.
That way, added Wood, not everyone will be crowding one garden at the same time.
Powell River resident Kathy Pedneault has gone on the garden tour several times, but this year will be the first time she opens her own garden for the event.
“I’m nervous,” said Pedneault. “I’m just a hobbyist.”
Pedneault said she shares in the simplicity of what most gardeners enjoy, “just getting out and digging in the dirt and watching it grow.”
Organized entirely by volunteers, money raised through ticket sales goes back into the community, including green space and education, said Wood.
“The money goes into a scholarship for a high-school student going to university studying something to do with biology, horticulture or plant-science related,” she said.
According to Wood, donations have been made for benches at the intersection of Westview Road and Marine Avenue, a drinking fountain at the viewpoint on Marine Avenue, toward the purchase of Millennium Park, to Powell River Botanic Garden Society and other non-profit organizations creating gardens and green-spaces in the city.
Ticket packages for the self-guided tour, available at Mother Nature and Springtime Garden Centre, are $15 each and include a map and descriptions of each garden. A by-donation fundraiser lunch, including live music and other activities, will be served at a location specified within ticket packages. Teachers from James Thomson Elementary School are preparing the lunch as a fundraiser for creating a garden at the school.
Over the years the tour has helped people create more beautiful gardens by being educational and showcasing all types, shapes and characters of gardens, said Wood.
“People learn at lot,” she said. “When they see something they really like, owners are there to tell them about the plant, what its name is and how it behaves. Over the years, we’ve helped people create more beautiful gardens.”
PRGT’s 20th edition takes place Sunday, June 5, from 9 am-5 pm; lunch will be available from 11:30 am-3 pm.
