Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour puts emphasis on pollinators
It’s the season to watch pollinator insects to bounce from flower to flower in the garden. The thought that they are going about their timeless work is what drives many of us to plant and tend our garden.
One of the most common questions I get is what are the best plants for a pollinator garden. There are literally hundreds out there, and it can be mind-boggling to make choices. A garden tour this weekend may help give some ideas.
This year, the theme of the Coeur d’Alene Garden Club Tour is “Journey to the Gardens” to celebrate the travels that our pollinators make to seek out their favorite flowers.
The tour is 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. The six gardens featured on this year’s tour are in Rathdrum, Athol, Hayden, Dalton Gardens and Coeur d’Alene, another reason for calling this year’s tour “Journey to the Gardens.” Tickets are $20 and are available online at cdagardenclub.com or at local Coeur d’Alene area nurseries. There is a service charge on the online tickets. Service animals are welcome.
This year’s tour gardens were chosen because of their emphasis on providing plants for pollinators and for their ways of simplifying gardens in large and small spaces.
At Bill and Rhoda King’s garden north of Rathdrum, pockets of pollinator plants have been tucked into 2 acres of land facing Rathdrum Mountain, including a pollinator meadow. “We are trying to blend as many pollinator plants as we can into an existing garden, especially bee balm, agastache and penstemons,” Rhoda King said.
Peggy Ragland’s Secret Garden is hidden in 60 acres of North Idaho forest in Athol. The 105-foot-long perennial beds wind through the property and feature hundreds of perennials, annuals and peonies, some handed down by Ragland’s mother. The gardens leave you feeling like you were walking through an enchanted landscape.
The Jennifer Smith Garden in Dalton Gardens features a 1-acre patch of land filled with beauty and blossoms. Vegetables and berries mix with a large collection of carefully chosen perennials, shrubs and trees.
Cheryl and Jan Christensen’s garden in Hayden is a showcase for creating a beautiful garden that offers more serenity and less work.
Bret and Becky Sims garden in Coeur d’Alene is a whimsical combination of Bret’s cowboy art and Becky’s dream of an enchanted English garden including lots of peonies and clematis.
The Herb Minatre garden in Rathdrum – otherwise known as Gossamer Cove – features a series of perennial, trees and rhododendron-filled garden rooms lovingly built over 17 years.
The tour will also offer 30 vendors from across the region offering all kinds of arts and crafts and tasty eats and drinks. One vendor, WingsRising at the Peggy Ragland Garden, will feature their efforts to restore monarch butterfly and other pollinators populations in Northern Idaho and beyond.
Proceeds from the garden tour support garden projects all over Kootenai County including Skyway Elementary School, Canopy Village, Ramsey Magnet School of Science and Habitat for Humanity. “We gained 501(c)(3) status this year and are formalizing our grant application process,” said Judy Feldner, tour chair.
If you go ‘Journey to the Gardens’ What: Coeur d’Alene Garden Club’s tour of gardens in North Idaho. When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $20, available at www.cdagardenclub.com or through some local nurseries.