Seven glorious Roberts Creek gardens open their gates this Sunday, June 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the annual Tour of Private Gardens, a fundraising event in aid of the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden.
This year all the gardens are within walking distance in Roberts Creek. Tickets are on sale at the Sechelt Visitors Centre and the garden centres, and for last minute tickets follow the signs on Park Avenue in Roberts Creek.
Discover a plant collector's waterfront garden, a lively children's garden, a very private haven with hand-built sheds, water features large and small, two orchards, wildflowers and chicken coops. Meet hundreds of perennials, trees and shrubs you might want to know and grow, and the gardeners who tend them lovingly.
Check out the many good ways to grow vegetables from raised beds to elegant pots off the kitchen. Get ideas for garden ornaments from elegant to silly - sometimes in the same garden. Surprise and delight are around every corner.
Tickets cost $20 for Botanical Garden members, or $25 for non-members. (Memberships also available.) Included is a map and description of the gardens. As the tour is all in one neighbourhood, most visitors can park once and walk to all within three blocks. Most of the gardens have areas that are accessible, but where footing is uneven, caution is advised.
The garden owners have spent countless hours preparing for this day. Garden etiquette is all part of the ambiance. No weed-pulling please - it could be a rare and precious seedling. Nipping and snipping are no-noes too - ask for a seed or a cutting from the garden's owner, and often you'll receive one. Children (with tickets) must be closely supervised, but please leave pets at home. Cameras and notebooks are welcome, as are questions.
Make up a carpool of your garden-lover friends and bring a picnic lunch to the park at the foot of Flume or onto the beach, or visit downtown Roberts Creek or nearby Wilson Creek for restaurants.
For more information, visit www.coastbotanicalgarden.org.
-Submitted
