July 3 Column: Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour
I am so excited that the Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour is rapidly approaching! That’s the topic of my garden column and you can read all about it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Coeur d’Alene Garden Club hosting annual tour of six local gardens. Or you can read it underneath the video below.
The Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour will take place next Sunday, July 10 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It features 4 gardens in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and 2 in nearby Dalton Gardens. The awesome members of the Coeur d’Alene Garden Club put on this tour each year and it’s always such a joy.
In this week’s video, I talk about summertime flower care. I don’t know about you, but I am really starting to feel overwhelmed! There’s so much deadheading and weeding to do within the main part of our landscape. Eek! But all I can do is slowly whittle away at it and I know I’ll eventually catch up. I should add that because of our wet spring weather, the perennials are really putting on a show.
Here’s my garden column:
By Susan Mulvihill
“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 next Sunday’s Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour. 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, Idaho, 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, located 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 4 years ago, the structure of the garden was exactly the same as it now,” Kirsty Burns explained. “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, 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. 6th Ave, Post Falls, (208) 763-4355
Seright’s Ace Hardware, 1217 N. 4th 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 Dr, 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.
or from New Leaf Nursery, Petal Pushers Nursery and Seright’s Ace Hardware in Coeur d’Alene.
Info: cdagardenclub.com
Watch this week’s video at youtube.com/susansinthegarden.
Info: cdagardenclub.com
INFORMATION BOX:
What: Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 10
Details: Six gardens located in Coeur d’Alene and Dalton Gardens, Idaho. There will be musicians and artisans at the gardens. Tour tickets will provide details directions to each location and complete descriptions of the gardens.
Tickets: $15 when purchased in advance from the garden centers and businesses listed above, or online from Brown Paper Tickets. On the day of the tour, tickets cost $20 and can be purchased at all of the gardens or from New Leaf Nursery, Petal Pushers Nursery and Seright’s Ace Hardware in Coeur d’Alene.
More information: Coeur d’Alene Garden Club website