The Whidbey Island Garden Tour is this Saturday, June 25th from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m.
Tickets are available at the Bayview Farm and Garden, $20 for adults and $10 for children. The ticket(s) you receive will include garden descriptions, directions, and map.
The garden tour is a significant fundraising event; funding from the Whidbey Island Garden Tour in 2009 helped start the Good Cheer Garden. This year we are also recipients, and Garden Tour support will help purchase cottage stone for the retaining wall on the slope, and also seeds, tools and potting soil for starts.
By purchasing a ticket you not only support The Good Cheer Garden but many other community organizations. As Cary Peterson puts it “A wonderful day of beauty and delight, while benefiting the community! Cary is looking for a few volunteers to help out as docents on Saturday. You can call the food bank at 360-221-6454 option one if you can help out.
The Board of Whidbey Island Garden Tour, Inc. selected the organizations to receive funds raised through the sale of tickets to the 2011 tour.
Please note: 100% of ticket sale revenue will be distributed to the following beneficiaries this year.
Photo of Meerkerk Gardens by Hal Hovey
In addition to the four lovely gardens on display this year, there are three additional sites of interest that will be open for free on the day of tour.
The Good Cheer Garden: Join Cary Peterson for a tour of this unique community resource. The South Whidbey Good Cheer Food Bank has created a large organic vegetable garden in front of their facility on Bayview Road. Growing fresh vegetables and fruit has provided nutritious product directly to the Food Bank, increased food security, and expanded Good Cheer’s capacity to serve more people. The garden was started in 2009, funded by a $5,000 grant from the proceeds of the Whidbey Island Garden Tour.
Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens: Take this opportunity to visit Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens, offering flowering trees, perennials, and display gardens, as well as rhododendrons. On June 25 & 26 only, admission is complimentary when you present your WIGT Ticket. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Master Gardeners Educational Garden: Be inspired by the Master Gardeners Educational Garden at Greebank Farm. Expanded to include ornamental grasses, roses, perennials, and a share area, this display garden shares local knowledge as well as beauty. Located adjacent to the pond at the publicly owned Greenback Farm.
Whidbey Island Nourishes provided support for the event by offering the opportunity to purchase a nutritious and delicious box lunches to support W.I.N.—Whidbey Island Nourishes. You had to order you lunch by June 20th. The program is designed to help meet the nutritional needs of South Whidbey community members who have food insecurity.
The Whidbey Island Garden Tour is a non-profit corporation established to provide funding to those groups that work toward the improvement of Whidbey Island’s common habitat. The proceeds from this year’s Garden Tour will benefit our community through the support of educational projects and public space enhancement.
Good Cheer and Good Gardening!
Sounds like a great event. Are you going, Mark?