If you’ve been peeking over the fence to sneak a look at your favorite garden, you need not snoop any more.
The Orcas Island Garden Club’s seventh annual tour, “Orcas in Bloom,” allows participants to get up close and personal with lush private gardens.
“The community response has been fabulous,” said garden club president Marlyn Myers. “A lot of people are really interested in gardens and it gives them a chance to see gardens they wouldn’t otherwise get to see. Plus, people see things that they can do at their own garden.”
This year’s tour on June 25 and 26 features woodlands, ornamental shrubs and perennials, a seaside garden, ponds, a miniature suspension bridge, and 100-year-old heirloom orchard trees. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For photos of properties on the tour, visit www.islandssounder.com.
Last year, more than 300 folks trekked through Orcas oases, bringing in close to $6,000 for the club. Attendees came from other islands as well as the mainland.
“Once again, the tour has varied gardens,” Myers said. “Each one is very unique. Some are done by the owners and some are done by gardeners.”
Midge and Fritz Kraetzer
Midge and Fritz Kraetzer’s home is a lovely woodland property that offers a welcoming entry garden and a breathtaking north shore water view. Enjoy a wide variety of ornamental shrubs and perennials. Look for Japanese maples, apple, pear and cherry trees and check out the vegetable garden. Wander to the seaside garden to see lavender, ceanothus, lithodora and rosemary.
Bill Wulff
Throughout this beautiful woodland property encounter many different gardens to explore. You will find ornamental shrubs, climbing vines, ornamental trees, fruit trees and mixed perennials. Visit the fenced vineyard and check out the grape varieties. Spend some time at the large spring-fed pond and watch rainbow trout dance for food. Wander further to find an enchanting grove of old cedar trees.
Jeffri Coleman and Michael Rivkin
This is an historic homestead property featuring one of the oldest buildings on Orcas, a cabin built in 1866 that is now the Crow Valley Pottery store. Discover charming sheds and whimsical garden art. A sunny fenced area offers vegetable and berry gardens. Wander through many small gardens shaded by deciduous trees and filled with ornamental shrubs and perennials. You may even encounter Clara, the Mayor of Eastsound.
Barbara and Steve Spence
Their home offers lovely rock gardens featuring native and deer-resistant plants surrounding the house at this sunny unfenced waterfront garden. Look for exquisite rock work and numerous pocket gardens filled with a variety of perennials and ornamental shrubs and trees. Special features include a specimen rock of island jade and a miniature suspension bridge modeled after a real Oregon suspension bridge. Enjoy the water view as you walk along the shoreline.
Robert and Phyllis Henigson
The delightful entry garden at the main house of Robert and Phyllis Henigson offers a wide variety of ornamental shrubs, including rhododendrons, hydrangeas, roses and dogwoods. Follow the pathways around mixed perennial beds shaded by conifers and a variety of deciduous trees, including weeping willows and magnolias. A fenced vegetable garden offers a greenhouse, raised beds for herbs and vegetables and large blueberry and strawberry cages. Special features include unique garden art.
Fred Whitridge
Whitridge’s home tempts you to follow the pathways through the 60-plus acres and discover a variety of pear, peach, cherry, apple, plum, black walnut, fig and chestnut trees. As a former working dairy farm, this scenic property contains the original barn, chicken coop, water tower and a display of antique farm implements. Stroll under the romantic wisteria arbor bordered by boxwood and climbing roses to reach the reflecting pool.
