A splash of spring colour and fresh gardening ideas await horticulture enthusiasts this Sunday for the 19th annual Powell River Spring Garden Tour.
This weekend’s tour features 10 gardens, spanning from Wildwood to Palm Beach. Offerings include flowering shrubs, perennials, ornamental ponds with carp, and a bonsai collection, not to mention flowerbeds in full bloom and arbours thick with clematis and roses.
The tour runs from 9 am to 5 pm on June 15 and is self-guided.
“It’s people who are passionate about gardening,” said Vicki Sanzalone, a member of this year’s garden tour committee which has organized the event. “It’s a wonderful experience and people go away feeling really inspired to try things in their gardens.”
The event is being planned in honour of David Moore, a founding member of the garden tour, who died this year.
Lola Amundsen is one of the gardeners showcasing her Townsite yard. She has been working on her “visions” in her garden and attending the garden tour for the better part of 10 years.
“I just love seeing everyone’s ideas,” said Amundsen. “I want to take something home from every one I see.”
The garden tour committee is planning a luncheon at Diana Wood’s garden from 11:30 am to 3 pm, 4310 Westview Avenue. Classical guitar music or chamber music will be played. Tea will be served in tea cups and if the weather is hot, ice-cold lemonade will be available.
The last couple of years the tour has been planned for mid-June, before that it was held on Mother’s Day in May.
“Generally people have more showing in their gardens around this time,” said Sanzalone. “In the past we’d have beautiful azaleas, rhododendrons and irises, but now they’ll have clematises and roses—the more summer flowers.”
Proceeds from the tour will go toward Powell River Botanic Garden Society, which aims to convert an approximately 10-hectare waste transfer site to the north of Willingdon Beach into a botanic garden used for research and public enjoyment. The committee also funds a scholarship for a graduating high school student.
Tickets to the spring garden tour, which include a guide and a map, can be purchased at Mother Nature, Springtime Garden Centre or Breakwater Books and Coffee for $15.
