Growing inspiration

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

For green thumbs across the county, the first week of July is not only a time to recognize our independence, but also a time to celebrate gardening. The Bonner County Gardeners Association is hosting its 22nd annual garden tour Saturday, July 6 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

This self-guided tour has showcased the unique and stunning variety of landscapes that can be found within the vicinity of Sandpoint since 2002 and has a loyal following. Owners open their garden gates to the masses, allowing attendees to walk through and observe where the owners’ hard work led and perhaps gain some new ideas for their own gardens.

Courtesy photo.

For the association’s president, Karen Bennett, the tour is not only a time to show off the best gardens in the region, but a chance to find inspiration in others that have made great strides with the space they are allotted.

“You can find some beautiful gardens where people have spent tens of thousands on landscaping, but sometimes that’s not as inspiring as someone who has a small yard in Sandpoint and put a lot of love and care and creativity into it,” Bennett told the Reader. “That’s what we hope to capture with this tour. We want people to walk away saying, ‘We can do that.’”

Bennett said inspiring fellow gardeners is at the top of the priorities for the tour, and part of that inspiration is showing them that weeds do, in fact, exist.

“These gardens aren’t always perfect,” Bennett said. “Sometimes you’ll find weeds. We tell the hosts not to worry about that because they’re not getting paid for letting us parade 300 people through their garden. … These are people who are being extremely generous with their space.”

The tour is casual, with attendees paying $15 to see up to eight participating gardens. Tickets are available at bcgardeners.com or in person at any of the participating gardens.

While last year’s tour was divided into flower and food gardens, this year’s tour features a mixture of both — and attendees shouldn’t stress about trying to fit every location into their day.

“A lot of times you don’t have time to visit all eight,” Bennett said. “Pick and choose which ones you want to see, either by location or interest.”

Garden locations this year include six Sandpoint gardens: 508 N. Forest Ave.; 618 N. Sixth Ave.; 1526 Nicholas Way; 1611 Spruce St.; 1407 Cedar St. (Sandpoint library) and 161 Indian Meadows. There is also one location just across the Long Bridge south of Sandpoint at 111 Greenwood Ave., and another garden on the Sunnyside Peninsula at 325 Deer Ridge Road.

In addition to touring the gardens, there will also be a raffle for a garden-themed gift basket, with tickets available for purchase at each garden the first day of the tour.

Visit bcgardeners.org to buy tickets or for more information.