Lake Forest Park Secret Gardens & Market Tours June 20, 2026

Forces of Nature

By Lee Rolfe

April may tease us with variable temperatures, delayed or accelerated blossoming, and the discouragement of once-banished-now-resurrected weeds.

But one good thing can be counted upon: six fascinating local gardens are now undergoing feverish cultivation, restoration, and grooming to prepare for their June 20 Big Reveal: the Lake Forest Park Secret Gardens Tour and Market.

What are the origins of this annual ritual, you’re wondering?

Clematis montana in Briarcrest, Early April

Well, in the early 2000s, a group of gardeners hosted by the city of Lake Forest Park explored the option of having a local garden tour. The LFP Garden Club, with their knowledge of local gardens, were instrumental in identifying six gardens for the first tour. These members organized a festive survey highlighting the town’s broadly unique and contradictory gardens. As now, our neighborhood properties ran the gamut from sylvan, meadowed, in-/formal, creek-fed, patioed, moss-ridden, native, chicken-run — for starters.

Then-garden club Forces of Nature (Pam Brown and Candy Richards) gathered five others to hustle and forge partnerships with the local conservation and art groups, keystone sponsoring businesses and resource-related utilities. They knocked on unknown neighbor’s doors with invitations to participate, engaged grammar school graphic artists, and sought live performance musicians. From the beginning, civic catalyst Ros Bird has headed the Garden Tour steering committee.

These ladies, and the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Tour and Garden Market have brought regional recognition, public art, and cultural funding to the city of Lake Forest Park. Among others, the tour has educated seed-starters, tree-grafters and pond-diggers, and connected folks to live local garden writers like Valerie Easton, David Laskin, and Debra Prinzing. 

Back in the day, celebrated Seattle University head horticulturist Cisco Morris used to animate and broadcast live from the Garden Market in the Town Center Mall.

The tour, Garden Market and raffle have attracted upwards of 600 attendees per year and purchased public art now gracing Blue Heron, Horizon View, and Pfingst Animal Acres Parks. Our city’s beating heart, Third Place Commons, has afforded additional programs and enhancements thanks to funds raised. The Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation continues its education and protection programs, and ShoreLake Arts Foundation continues to educate and promote artists and their patrons.

The tour propelled the careers of diverse musicians (among them guitarist Mike Good, Milner Family Fiddles and Groupo Samay), who brought additional vivacity to the sites. And scores of fine artists like Irene Shimuzu, Beth Betker and Marsha Lippert demonstrated their skill on site, later raffling their resulting work.

Going forward, forces of Mother Nature will require that we prepare ourselves for water restrictions, fire risk abatement, new pests, and extreme heat. We can depend upon the local horticultural community: the pros and gifted amateurs, school district gardening clubs, LFP Climate Hub leaders and artists to gather midsummer to celebrate, problem-solve and elevate our community gardening skills and awareness.

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