Bitterroot Secret Garden Tour

 It's been months since my last post. Here's why. I've spent most of the winter on several projects. And this is my favorite -- something that neighbors, friends and I are calling the Bitterroot Secret Garden Tour. Tickets ($25) went on sale for the first time this morning, May 1. One shop alone, 6 sold in the first 26 minutes. I'd say to get them while they last (the gift packet with each ticket would be a great Mother's Day present) and make checks payable to the Bitter Root Humane Association. All proceeds will go to that nonprofit. (SOLD OUT, as of May 7. Thanks to gardeners and garden centers in Hamilton, Victor and Corvallis, Mt. Try us again next year!)

This is Kielian DeWitt's garden, as of this week. It's one of five on the tour.

When the tour takes place on Saturday, August 8, Kielian's will look something like this...

...or like this. (Photos by Kielian DeWitt)

This is Bill Kindzerski's spectacular vegetable garden, when I photographed it 2 years ago.

And this is Bill -- a garden hobbyist who puts his spring seedlings on a pickup truck that he moves in and out of his garage everyday until last frost.

Jean Israel has a sweet in-town garden with dahlias...

...a lovely little fenced vegetable bed...

...plus lots of soothing and well-planted shade.

Nansu Roddy's in-town garden is the size of an average living room but is uber productive using permaculture as its technique.

Before: This is Susan Behrman's homemade arbor surrounded by vegetable beds, photographed on a visit I made there two years ago.

After: Mountains in the background and Susan's vegetables get a dose of bright flowers later in summer, while hops is about to bloom on the arbor. It's a high-altitude delight.

Tickets to the tour of these 5 gardens are selling at:

-- Bitterroot Nursery, 617 Eastside Hwy, Hamilton;
-- Bitter Root Humane Association, 262 Fairgrounds Rd., Hamilton;
-- Cooks' Gardens, 177 Golf Course Rd., Hamilton;
-- Empire Landscaping & Garden Center, 2259 Meridian Rd., Victor;
-- K&S Greenhouse, 204 Black Lane, Corvallis.

See you there?!