I don’t think I need to tell you this is one of the best times of the year to enjoy roses and for that matter garden colour in general. I recommend taking a Sunday drive through the many beautiful neighbourhoods we have here in the Okanagan and get some ideas for your own property.
Hey wait a minute, wouldn’t it be better and much more comfortable to be invited into several gardens with no concerns about taking pictures and asking questions about what you see? We are fortunate to have two garden tours coming up that enable you to do just that.
The first one takes place this Saturday, June 14.
This is the 17th annual Kelowna Garden Tour where you can see the many forms a garden can take as you wind your way through Kelowna to large estate properties in vineyard and city settings, relaxing backyard retreats, heritage gardens and an urban farm.
At several properties there will be guest experts there to answer your questions. People such as Urban Farmer Curtis Stone, Xeriscape Guru Gwen Steele, Square Foot Gardener Toni Boot and the Okanagan Master Gardeners.
Also, my knowledgeable compatriot Ken Salvail will be hanging out at one of the gardens while I man the fort back at the radio station.
Artists, food and wine tastings, and demonstrations complete this visual, cultural and culinary feast.
You can get your tickets at Bylands, Art Knapp, Green & Bear It, The Greenery, Dogwood Nursery or Rick’s Garden World.
Funds raised support local gardening initiatives including Growing Chefs—an elementary classroom gardening and cooking programme sponsored by the Okanagan Chefs Association; and Central Okanagan Community Gardens—helping neighbourhoods and communities create sustainable green spaces for gardening, food production, gathering and education.
As I mentioned before we are privileged to have two great garden tours in the central Okanagan. The Lake Country Garden Tour has been held for a number of years and this year nine gardens are presented for our enjoyment. This tour will be held on Saturday June 21. Master Gardeners will be on hand at each property to answer all your questions and there will be at least one artist in each garden displaying their art.
At three of the properties there will be special garden related presentations. The first is a planting demo by Heather Doheny entitled “Tablescape and Patioscape…outside the box” at 10 am & noon. At 11 am and 1 pm Ken Salvail will give a talk on “Pesticide free Gardening” and at noon and 3 pm the Invasive Species Council of BC will present a talk on “Invasive Ornamental Plants”.
On top of that, several sponsors will be offering discounts on their products and there will be a “Toonie” raffle as well.
Tickets for this event can be purchased at Kel-Lake Greenhouses, Woodsdale General Store, Winfield IDA, The Greenery, Bylands Garden Centre, Art Knapp Plantland in Kelowna and Vernon.
Whether you are an avid gardener or just appreciate beautiful gardens taking one or both these tours is the best way to source ideas and enjoy a beautiful Okanagan day in June.
