PORT ANGELES — The 2024 Petals and Pathways Home Garden Tour will feature six home gardens in Port Angeles on June 22.
As a special treat, participants also will be able to tour Webster’s Woods at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center.
The annual fundraiser is hosted by the Master Gardener Foundation of Clallam County, and master gardeners will be on site at each garden to answer questions.
Tickets are available at www.clallam mgf.org for $20 per person until Sunday. Tickets can be purchased in person until June 22. The price will go up to $25 on the day of the tour.
Tickets are available in Port Angeles at Port Book and News, 104 E. First St.; Swains General Store, 602 E. First St.; and Airport Garden Center, 2200 W. Edgewood Drive.
In Sequim, tickets are on sale at Over the Fence, 118 E. Washington St.; Sunny Farms Country Store, 261461 U.S. Highway 101; and The Co-op Farm and Garden Store, 216 E. Washington St.
The Master Gardener Selection Committee looks for diversity, accessibility and creativity in the gardens selected for the tour.
This year’s gardens are:
• Islands of Color is a 2.6-acre property off Lower Elwha Road, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The front yard features several trails, each with its own name, that wander through tall western red cedar and big leaf maples.
The backyard faces Mount Baker and the surrounding garden features colorful beds of perennials, annuals and shrubs.
The garden has several sitting areas for relaxing and enjoying the view.
• Miyako’s Garden, named in honor of the owner’s late mother, earned the summer 2022 Green Thumb Award from the Port Angeles Garden Club.
Its owner grooms many of the plants, bushes and trees into cloud shapes using the Japanese technique Niwaki.
The back yard features a formal tea house with traditional Japanese furnishings.
The iron tree has chandelier crystals, which were inspired by the owner’s visit to a native forest in Japan that features an entire section with crystals hanging from the branches.
• Hidden Treasures, the recipient of the fall 2023 Green Thumb Award, has a back garden that achieves privacy through a fence made of a collection of doors.
In the front, a garden divider made from glass doors and recycled glass objects captures attention.
The garden highlights Pacific Northwest evergreens and maples, some contorted into whimsical shapes.
The original lawn has been replaced with chips and walkable groundcover plants to encourage people to explore the hidden treasures that can only be appreciated when you get up close and personal.
• Forever Garden features a variety of blooming perennials bordering the lawns around a 120-year-old Victorian home.
One enters the property under the shade of a mature, twisted Japanese maple, while the east side features plum, cherry and apple trees along with blueberries and strawberries.
A manicured Leland cypress hedge stands over beds of bleeding hearts, lilies, delphinium, salvias, primrose, geranium and fern.
A guest cottage and patio is on the back side of the hedge, a private retreat to read, contemplate or visit friends.
• Vedanta Retreat, a quaint city lot, offers a peaceful sanctuary with an assortment of perennials that attract hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.
The backyard is bordered with raised vegetable beds.
Visitors can view before pictures showing how this garden was transformed by the current homeowners.
Rock paths, sandstone, woodwork and birdbaths placed throughout the garden create a comforting, healing ambience.
• A Patchwork of Produce, also known as the Fifth Street Community Garden, is like a quilt of 54 rentable plots, all on two city lots.
The garden features an assortment of garden designs, each constrained by the 9-foot by 12-foot plot size.
Visitors will see a variety of planting arrangements including trellis systems, seasonal plant protection and use of raised beds.
In the community areas along the Fifth Street frontage, there is a three-bin composting system, tools for sharing and picnic tables.
The garden only allows organic growing and earth-friendly practices.
The garden is the site of the Master Gardeners Second Saturday Garden Walks throughout the growing season.
• Webster’s Woods is a 5-acre sculpture park surrounding the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center’s Esther Webster Gallery.
The forested trails contain a permanent collection of art installations, as well as rotating annual exhibits.
Visitors can also enjoy original poems located on signboards throughout the park as a part of the Port Angeles Poetry in the Park program in collaboration with Olympic Peninsula Authors.
Two guided tours will be offered, one at 10 a.m., a second at 3 p.m.; self-guided maps will be available all day.
Proceeds from the tour support the Woodcock Demonstration Gardens in Sequim, several plots at the Fifth Street Garden, Youth Enrichment Program, Green Thumb Education Series and Digging Deeper Saturdays at Woodcock Demonstration Gardens.
