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Annual provides a learning opportunity for beginning gardeners
Published on June 27, 2024 • 3 minutes reading
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The Stratford and District Horticulture Society is gearing up for its biggest fundraiser of the year with its annual garden tour.
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The tour runs from 10am to 4pm on 7 July and includes eight gardens in the city. The society, which also maintains about 10 public gardens in the city, always attracts a lot of interest in the tour, said Larke Turnbull, a member of the organising committee
“Last year it rained most of the day and we had to take 350 people on tour. Normally we have between 350 and 400 people,” Turnbull said. “There are different types of gardeners on the tour, and some are long-established in older homes, and some are quite new. It’s a chance for people to get ideas from other gardeners about different things.”
One of the homeowners whose garden will be featured on the tour is Barbara Laflamme, who has been working on her garden for twenty years.
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“It was basically a blank canvas, and it’s just expanded and evolved since then. The whole idea is to give a sense of calm, serenity and peace,” Laflamme said.
Having not learned how to garden when she was younger, Laflamme learned the necessary skills from books by John Bradshaw.
“Every week there was a new book coming out, so I would buy it at the grocery store, take it home and read it cover to cover. One week it would be on lawns, another week it would be on roses, another week it would be on shrubs and trees. So that’s how I originally learned to garden. And then as we bought houses, we kept adding to the gardens,” she said.
Laflamme also took the opportunity to learn from other local gardeners, guest speakers and classes, as well as tours similar to the upcoming event.
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“Every year on the garden tour I tried to come home with one new plant or one new idea and apply it somewhere,” she said.
Her garden, which was also part of the tour about 10 years ago, has a small pond and a waterfall.
“You just hear the sound of the water and the birds. You don’t hear any outside noise. You’re alone with nature,” she said.
Laflamme has a wide variety of plants in both her front and back yards, which require about an hour per day to maintain.
“I’m gradually working my way into more native plants, but we like to have a garden that looks good every season of the year (so) there’s something to look at,” she added.
Like Turnbull, Laflamme noted that the July 7 tour is an opportunity for others to learn about her work and the work of others.
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“It just gives people ideas,” she said.
Passes for the tour, as well as an accompanying map, cost $15 each or two for $25. The passes can be found at Cozyn’s Garden Gallery, the Sebringville Garden Center and Klomp’s Home and Garden. They are also available on the day of the tour from 9am to 1pm at Cozyn’s and Stratford Town Hall. The tour will also include a scavenger hunt-like element, with each garden featuring a unique plant marked with a Canadian flag. Visitors to the tour will have the opportunity to guess the species.
“We’re not trying to make it too difficult, but it’s not something that’s really obvious either. It gives people a chance to test their knowledge of plants,” Turnbull said
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