In the Garden: Coeur d’Alene Garden Club hosting annual tour of six local gardens on

“The best education you can have as a gardener is to visit other gardens.”

Monty Don, England’s renowned gardening expert, recently made this statement, and it certainly rings true.

You’ll have the opportunity to learn about great plant choices and gardening techniques by taking part in the Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour on July 10. Organized by the Coeur d’Alene Garden Club, this will be the 24th annual tour that celebrates a love of gardening and community. It features four gardens in Coeur d’Alene and two in Dalton Gardens and takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There also will be vendors, artisans and musicians in the gardens.

Visitors to Kirsty and Walter Burns’ garden, at 906 E. Foster Ave. in Coeur d’Alene, will take away a wealth of ideas from exploring this hidden gem. The Burns’ attractive Colonial Revival home, which was formerly a bed and breakfast, was built in 1907. It is flanked by one of the oldest and largest spruce trees in the city as well as two huge cedars.

The perimeter beds in the front yard create an appealing setting with plantings of apple trees, roses, azaleas, rhododendrons, peonies, hydrangeas and boxwoods. When visitors head through the gate into the backyard, they are in for a delightful surprise. The peaceful landscape that awaits them features a charming gazebo surrounded by lawn and artfully planted beds that are dappled with sunlight. The sound of gently splashing water from a lovely fountain accompanies the scene.

“When we moved in four years ago, the structure of the garden was exactly the same as it now,” Kirsty Burns said. “We basically just enhanced the garden by adding in a lot of plants.”

She first learned how to garden from her father and grandmother.

“Gardening puts you in the moment,” she said. “It can be strenuous and hard work, but you don’t think about anything else. Since we’re both interior designers, we follow the same principles to create mood, atmosphere and serenity.”

Those who have shady garden spaces at home will discover a wide variety of wonderful plant options for their own challenging conditions. Examples include hostas, Japanese forest grass, heucheras (coral bells), Japanese maples, ferns, brunnera (false forget-me-not) and Ligularia (leopard plant). The play of light and dark within the garden is echoed in the plant choices that feature chartreuse or deep burgundy leaves. Purple smokebush (cotinus) adds an ethereal atmosphere to the landscape and shimmer when the sunlight hits the leaves.

The sunnier areas of the garden are planted with boxwoods, herbaceous peonies and lilacs. There’s also an impressive espaliered apple tree growing in a huge pot and columnar apple trees along the driveway that add vertical height to the small area.

Here are the locations of all of the tour gardens:

• Kirsty and Walter Burns, 906 E. Foster Ave., Coeur d’Alene.

• Tina and John Hough, 105 E. Wallace Ave., Coeur d’Alene.

• Kim and Mike Normand, 822 E. Garden Ave., Coeur d’Alene.

• Shared Harvest Community Garden, 1009 E. Foster Ave., Coeur d’Alene.

• Cheryl Ann and Steve Vick, 2140 E. Hanley Ave., Dalton Gardens, Idaho.

• Kim and Todd Putren, 6272 N. 16th St., Dalton Gardens, Idaho.

The Coeur d’Alene Garden club is hosting the tour. All proceeds will benefit local charities and North Idaho College scholarships.

Garden centers and businesses that will be selling the tickets are:

• Aspen Nursery, 6075 E. Commerce Loop, Post Falls, (208) 667-7511.

• Mix-It-Up Gifts, 513 Sherman Ave, Coeur d’Alene, (208) 667-8603.

New Leaf Nursery, 12655 N. Government Way, Hayden, (208) 762-4825.

• Northland Nursery, 8093 W. Prairie Ave, Post Falls, (208) 773-3247.

• Northwest Seed & Pet, 2422 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane, (509) 534-0694, or 7302 N. Division St., Spokane, (509) 484-7387.

• Petal Pushers Nursery, 201 E. Sixth Ave., Post Falls, (208) 763-4355.

• Seright’s Ace Hardware, 1217 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene, (208) 667-9466.

• Sculptured Gardens, 15614 E. Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley, (509) 290-6866.

• Vanhoff’s Garden Center, 1844 N. Government Way, Coeur d’Alene, (208) 930-4424.

• Westwood Gardens, 15825 N. Westwood Drive, Rathdrum, (208) 687-5952.

Susan Mulvihill is author of “The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook.” She can be reached at Susan@SusansintheGarden.com. Watch this week’s video at youtube.com/susansinthegarden.

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