Showing posts with label secret gardens of lake forest park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label secret gardens of lake forest park. Show all posts

Call for Artists for new public art at Horizon View Park

Thursday, September 12, 2024

Horizon View Park in Lake Forest Park

The LFP Garden Tour and City of LFP have put out a call for Artists (RFQ) for new public art at Horizon View Park.

The selected artist(s) will create a free-standing artwork to be located in an outdoor area visible to motorists, pedestrians and park users. 

The piece will reference the history and location of the area and be in harmony with its surroundings. It may be abstract or traditional, and possibly functional. It will be composed of materials suitable for long-term outdoor display/use and easy to maintain. The artwork must be new work created for this site.

The sculpture will most likely be located in an area near the entrance and/or play ground at Horizon View Park which is located at the highest point in Lake Forest Park. 

This area has mounding terrain and would be enhanced by a creative bench or other interactive element. 

The park provides an opportunity to contemplate the night sky, surrounding mountains and territorial landscape. Amenities for active use of Horizon View Park include a soccer field, tennis court, half-court basketball, walking paths around a reservoir and through a wooded area, picnic tables, and a playground. 

Horizon View Park is located in a residential neighborhood and is enjoyed by all ages and abilities. While there are several pieces of public art in the Town Center/City Hall area of LFP, this will be the first public art installation in the Horizon View Park neighborhood.

The full RFQ can be seen here 

 Questions can be directed to publicartlfpgardentour@gmail.com


Read more...

Plant sale and raffle Saturday at LFP Town Center

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Pots to be raffled off at Garden Market
Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market
June 15, 2024

Once a year six families open their gardens for a tour. 

Purchase a ticket and on the day of the tour exchange the ticket for a map to the gardens.

But there is more. 

A plant sale with items suitable for our area. Ferns, trees, flowering plants, ground cover all close by and easy to shop. 

Everyone is welcome to shop the garden market at the lower level of the Town Center, intersection Bothell and Ballinger Way NE.

There is a raffle of pots and plants and crafted items. The tickets are just a dollar. All the proceeds support local nonprofits and provide a fund for public art.

You can still get tickets for the tour online here for $20. After midnight on June 14, the price goes up to $25.


Read more...

Secret Garden Tour and Market this Saturday June 15, 2024 in Lake Forest Park Town Center

Wednesday, June 12, 2024


Story and Photos by Sally Yamasaki

Do you know what our state flower is in Washington State? 

“In 1892, before they had the right to vote, Washington women selected the coast rhododendron as the state flower. They wanted an official flower to enter in a floral exhibit at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.” (Washington State Legislature State Symbols).

Rhododendron macrophyllum (meaning rose tree with large leaves), more commonly known as the Pacific rhododendron or the coast rhododendron, is the Washington State flower.

Every year at the Lake Forest Park Secret Gardens, there are wonderful booths to visit at the Garden Market which will be located on the lower level of Lake Forest Park Town Center. Chimacum Woods is always a destination place to visit amongst Market attendees.

Chimacum Woods Owners, Bob Zimmerman and Beth Orling

When you visit Chimacum Woods’ booth you realize this is not just a place to purchase your ordinary rhododendron. Owners Bob Zimmerman and Beth Orling have a real passion for the plants, many of which they have nurtured from seed.

“Most of our rhododendrons began as seeds that were meticulously hand-collected from species “parents” in their native habitats,” according to Beth.

After 5 years of tending the plants, they are transplanted into two-gallon pots. Meaning that each plant you purchase this year has been nurtured since at least since 2019!

Zimmerman’s affinity for Rhododendrons began over 45 years ago enjoying all types of rhodies but specifically species rhododendrons. 

Chimacum Woods Species Rhododendron: Fortunei (aka., Lushan)

What is a species rhododendron? 

Most of the rhodies we have in our gardens are not species but are hybrids. They are the outcome of crossbreeding to try and get a certain look, as an example, flower color, size of blossom, leaf texture. In contrast, species rhododendrons are native plants. Our state flower rhododendron macrophyllum is an example of a species rhododendron.

Zimmerman, noting that native rhododendron habitats are dwindling around the world, sees their work at Chimacum Woods propagating and preserving species rhododendron as preserving endangered species for future generations as well as to show how they can enhance gardens and bring enjoyment to their customers.

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market
This Saturday, June 15, 2024

  • For more information about the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour, click here.
  • To purchase your tickets click here.

Read more...

Lake Forest Park Secret Garden Story

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

By Lee Rolfe

Last week, I visited one of the six Lake Forest Park Secret Gardens that will be on display on June 15th Secret Garden tour. As the owner and I walked the much thought over portions of the yard, I could see that every garden has a story.

Imagine you’re a young couple, moving into your new, maybe forever home in shady Lake Forest Park with two kids and a load of classic old shrubs you can’t leave behind. 

Equipped with your memories of relatives who gardened and the instruction of your former neighbors, you’re faced with making the compacted, sloped and barren strip that surrounds your house into a place where the kids can frolic. 

Crossed fingers, you might host BBQs and relax in a future oasis there, when you one-day retire.

You attend to the immediate, establishing the kids’ swing set/play area and getting those transported shrubs in the ground. 

The more you come to understand the site, you realize it needs better enclosure, regrading, and enriched soil amendment. 

You recognize the gold that is compost and realize it’s all over your back yard if you’re willing to gather fallen maple leaves and process them in the fall. 

You recognize the value of the maturing conifers onsite and take your time in deciding whether they’re truly hazardous to your property or can provide needed framework and shade.

As your kids mature and you find more time, you join the garden club, learn to cast concrete leaves, install a fern garden and circulating creek on the back slope, and keep studying the potential of your lot. 

The path that encircles your house grows narrower as you deepen the garden beds, anchored with woody structures like rhodies (‘Lem’s Cameo’), azaleas (scented ‘Quazar’), berberis, varied enkianthus, and hydrangea. 

Specimen trees like styrax, weeping conifers, stewartia, parrotia, oxydendron, Japanese maples, yew, larch, and beech are installed over the years. 

Some things like vine maples may overgrow their places, but you learn to cut them back hard, and have the patience and skill to cloak them with showy neighbors during their awkward regrowth.

Now being Pacific Northwesterners, you recognize there are treasures to be found at the LFP plant sale, plant catalogues, the Seattle Flower and Garden Show, Everett’s Sorticulture, Fred Meyer’s, Home Depot, and Costco.

You splurge on things like a box of enormous Persian onions, or perennials like dramatic voodoo lily, Spanish mouse tail plant, and rodgersia. Some of these are gathered on road trips to Port Townsend’s Far Reaches Farm and other specialty nurseries. 

Your collection of ferns, perennial geraniums, dahlias, clematis, hostas, peonies, and roses (‘Knock Out’, ‘de Rescht’, ‘Sally Holmes’), thrives and declines, depending on that downspout issue, the irrigation system, successive pests, and prolonged winter freezes. 

You give up the lawn weeding and consign yourself to installing a ribbon of artificial turf with zero regrets. Your 1989 aim to entertain, relax, and easily self-maintain your retirement getaway, although achieved, still invites further addition and creativity.

Sign up for the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and gain rare access to this well loved garden, and five other gardens. Learn the secrets of the custom designed fence, circulating water feature, bed-edging groundcovers, a starter greenhouse, and use of annual flowers to offset all that green. 

Ask a Master Gardener and the garden owners how to keep down weeds, divide perennials, propagate with cuttings and enhance your property and your leisure and get more ideas for your own garden story.

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market
Saturday, June 15 · 9am - 3pm PDT

Read more...

What Makes a Great Yard a Secret Garden? See tips from the Secret Garden team

Thursday, May 9, 2024

What Makes a Great Yard a Secret Garden?
Tips from the Secret Garden selection team

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Tour, June 15, 2024 9am to 3pm
Tickets are available now for the 2024 garden tour.

Each June, six fabulous Lake Forest Park gardens welcome visitors during the Secret Garden tour. While the garden locations remain secret until the day of the tour, one thing is for certain: garden lovers can count on finding features, plantings and designs to delight their varied preferences. Is this a serendipitous result of just listing a set of nominated gardens?
 
Choosing the gardens is actually quite a diligent process conducted by two dedicated garden sleuths, Jan and Judy, who are both key members of the 100 year-old LFP garden club. 

They receive just a few garden nominations each year. The team must actively solicit garden sites. Year-round, they keep an eye out for potential garden candidates… jotting down addresses of appealing front yards. Jan keeps a notebook in her car, explicitly for that purpose.

I am in a garden that you'll see when
you tour the Secret Garden in LFP!
Beginning in July, the “J” team begins visitations to investigate the potential of these candidate gardens. 

While many of us think of gardens in terms of front or back, the Secret Garden is both, so it is essential that the sleuths view the backyard as well. A knock on the door might bring an invitation, but if no one is home, they’ll leave a note expressing interest as a potential garden candidate. 

But first, they’ll garner a sneak peek for a better assessment. This might entail driving uphill to view down into the yard, or wandering around perimeters, peeking around or through holes in fences.

Judy surmises, “the neighbors must wonder” but they have never been reported. Jan laughs, “Just two old ladies…we’re harmless!”

One can wander around Lake Forest Park and spot many beautiful gardens. So, just what makes a nice yard secret-garden worthy? 

Lovely front and back yards are a given, but what makes a garden really pop is something unusual or surprising. This might be a highlight such as hardscaping or water features, or small details…. perhaps an interesting rain drain, statuary, or use of artificial turf. Round a corner and you may find a little gnome or a carved bear hanging out in a tree.

I am in a garden that you'll see
when you tour the Secret Garden in LFP!
Our two garden sleuths have their own preferences, but emphasize the importance of selecting a variety of garden styles. 

People vary in how they define the perfect yard: some enjoy foodscapes with an emphasis on vegetables and fruits, others prefer formal designs, and still others, natural landscapes. 

Respect for individual preferences is just one way that demonstrates how consideration of the visitor experience is built into the process. The team includes checks for ease of parking, accessibility to the site, and potential safety hazards, all of which even the most fabulous garden must pass for selection.

The 2024 Secret Garden selection is now finalized and can be viewed during the Secret Garden tour on June 15, 2024. 

As you visit the gardens, perhaps you might spot certain features that captivated Jan and Judy as well. And remember, the search for 2025 begins in July… feel free to nominate your own or a neighbor’s garden (info@LFPgardentour.com or fill in a form at one of this year’s garden sites).

For more information about the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour, click here.

Motivated by Jan and Judy’s activities and want to get involved? 

We’re looking for volunteers for this year’s Secret Garden tour. No garden or plant experience needed! Contact: info@LFPgardentour.com


Read more...

The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market returns on Saturday, June 15, 2024

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Six beautiful, local gardens will open to visitors for the Secret Gardens of LFP tours

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market Saturday, June 15, 2024, 9am to 3pm

Buy Tickets now

Amid the shade of old-growth trees and the sunny ridges of its watershed, Lake Forest Park residents incorporate all-weather sculptures, and create havens for chickens, honey bees, children's fairy gardens, native salmon alevin and campfire musicians.

Six private LFP gardens will be open to public view on June 15, 2024 at the 20th Annual Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour. These properties provide solace and recreation and are cultivated by gifted amateurs and professionals. 

They have much to teach novice and seasoned gardeners -- "I love going to the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park," says local resident, Sadie, "“I always get inspiration for new ideas that I want to incorporate into my own yard.”

Detail from one of the Secret Gardens
Maps to the gardens may be bought in exchange for a tour ticket and picked up at the Garden Market, in the LFP Town Center, on the same date. 

Show up at the lower level of the main building from 9am - 3pm, get your map and answers to nettlesome questions from attending WSU Master Gardeners. 

Also available are folks from the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation, who’ll explain how the neighborhood has managed to preserve the foundational aspects of the city: its forest, parks, and water. 

Consult and purchase garden-related services and goods: landscape professionals, specialty nursery stock, floral bouquets, and handcrafted all-weather art, including glass, stone, and metal work. Then, go explore those gardens!

Gardens can be viewed in any order you choose. Parking will be adjacent and free, and you may hear the sound of live music as you approach. 

Consult the garden owner, or you might overhear the sage observations of members of the Lake Forest Park Garden Club, the 100-yr. old association of neighborhood horticulturists. 

While exact details of these gardens are still a mystery, they’re reputed to vary in size (up to a shy acre), and include open meadows, trees of national registry significance, stone work, kitchen gardens, and of course, the native creeks that define the city.

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Garden Market, Saturday, June 15, 2024, 9am - 3pm

Benefitting:
  • Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation
  • Third Place Commons
  • ShoreLake Arts
  • Lake Forest Park Garden Club
Buy Tickets online starting early May ($20 in advance, $25 day of) or at:

The free LFP Garden Market is located in the lower lobby of LFP Town Center

LFP Garden Market

Tour maps to the garden tour can be picked up at the check-in table at LFP Garden Market
Admission to the Garden Market is free
Saturday, June 15, 2024, 9am to 3pm

Lower level of the Lake Forest Park Town Center 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, 98155 (intersection of Bothell Way NE/SR-522 & Ballinger Way NE/SR-104)

Find: professional advice, local environmental and natural resource agencies

Purchase: Secret Garden Tour maps, potted native and cultivated plants, cut flowers, garden art, garden-related crafts,

New and prospective vendors at Garden Market encouraged to email for information here.


Read more...

Save the Date June 15, 2024, for the next LFP Garden Tour

Friday, February 23, 2024

There are certain events in the town of Lake Forest Park that signal a special time of year. The Lake Forest Park Secret Garden Tour and Market is the anticipatory sign of Spring!

Save the Date, as this year’s LFP Secret Garden and Market is on Saturday, June 15, 2024

The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market started in 2003. 

The “garden sleuths” from the Garden Club have a long history of finding amazing local gardens. This year is no different. 

Snowdrop
The tour is a collaboration among the Garden Club, Shorelake Arts, Third Place Commons and the Stewardship Foundation. 

Proceeds from the sale of tickets support these organizations and provide public art for Lake Forest Park.


Read more...

The work of the elves will help you locate the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park on Saturday

Friday, June 16, 2023

Elves at work in their secret workshop

Story and photos by Sally Yamasaki

The morning of Lake Forest Park’s Secret Garden tour feels magical. When we wake up on that day, our little town is transformed-- amassed with small Secret Garden signs with arrows pointing in all directions so visitors can find their way to the secret-garden locations.

Ellyn Saunders, Mark Phillips, Connie Barnes, Linda Barrslage Benson

Do you ever wonder how all of the directional signs magically appear?

Last Sunday, LFP Secret Garden “elf” volunteers busied themselves, carefully pulling off the old arrows from last year’s directional signs. Then studying this year’s secret map, they cut new arrows to place guidance to this year’s gardens. 

Linda Barrslag-Benson and Ellyn Saunders

Then, in the wee hours of the morning of the garden tour, they work their magic!

“The first Secret Garden Tour of Lake Forest Park was in 2003,” according to Roz Bird. 
She continued, “The organizations that present and benefit from the Garden Tour are the LFP Garden Club, The Friends of Third Place Commons, ShoreLake Arts, and the LFP Stewardship Foundation. 
"They use the funds to help provide free community programs. Some proceeds also support new public art in LFP.”

So don’t miss all of the magic of this year’s Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market on Saturday, June 17, 2023.

Read more...

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market Saturday June 17, 2023

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

2016 garden
The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market returns on Saturday, June 17th! 

Enjoy a self-guided tour through six of the most beautiful and unique gardens in Lake Forest Park. Each garden will host musicians, artists, and expert gardeners to enhance your visit.

The garden market at the Town Center at Lake Forest Park will feature a variety of nurseries and other garden related vendors to help you make your personal garden dream come true!

Save $5 per ticket when you buy in advance, so buy today!

Get more info, find in-person ticket outlets, or get your tickets online at: http://SecretGardensofLakeForestPark.com/tickets



Read more...

Get Ready for the LFP Garden Tour on June 17, 2023

Friday, June 2, 2023

Sequoias in the Secret Garden Tour June 17

By Beth Weir

Now the calendar is featuring June, be sure to check you have the 17th marked for the Secret Garden Tour of Lake Forest Park. The six gardens on the tour are testament to the Pacific Northwest’s ability to host to a variety of landscapes, not to mention towering trees. For those we can thank Ole Hanson who platted the first lots around 1910 and so established the town of Lake Forest Park and its culture of trees.

Some of these now giant sequoias and sequoiadendrons border one of the ‘tour’ gardens. They envelope you in a warm Pacific Northwest welcome as you walk the long drive and appear to be protecting the plants, the landscape within and you as a visitor.

Its owners have taken upon themselves the care and further development of a classic Northwest Garden with a significant history. It was becoming overgrown when they took it over from folks who had lovingly invested themselves in the property over an extended period. If the enthusiasm of the gardeners for their self-assigned task could be bottled the world would cease to need power plants.

The garden is natural, large and moves effortlessly around a stream and lawn from small rooms and vignettes to larger views. It has touches of the personal, as in little art pieces left by children, new plantings to enhance the existing and areas of wilderness that have their own charm.

The trout will probably be hiding in the stream and the birds will have ceased their dawn chorus when the average visitor will be there. Rest assured, neither will be hard to imagine in such a peaceful and contemplative space.

Discount tickets are available on line at LfpGardenTour.com and in person at Wild Birds LFP, Third Place Books LFP and Sky Nursery Shoreline.


Read more...

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park

Saturday, May 6, 2023

By Beth Weir

The title of the annual tour around the gardens in Lake Forest Park includes a word that intrigues: secret. 

Tucked inside the dictionary definition is the austere notion that something is to be kept hidden.

Of course, keeping anything secret is almost impossible. Buddha recognized this when he stated that three things cannot long stay hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. 

The organizers of the Garden Tour would add gardens to Buddha’s list.

The gardens on the Lake Forest Park Tour are secret, only in the sense they are in private hands and not completely visible from the street. 

The people who have loved and tended them have done so largely hidden, in ‘secrecy’ perhaps. 

But, as proven by the generosity of the gardeners in opening up their yards for the public to enjoy, they are not of a mind to keep them secret. 

Those of us who cannot think of life without plants, soil, flowers, and trees are grateful. We have a rare chance to peek at wonders the sun, rain and someone with dirty nails can create.

June 17, 2023 visitors will have a chance to see six ‘Secret’ gardens on the Lake Forest Park Tour. 

As is always the case they vary so everyone can find a garden, a plant vignette, a placement of flowers and art, a particular tree that make the heart beat faster. Here and there, someone looking about may find a little garden secret revealed that will simply delight.

Some examples of what is in store will help. This year a big, beautiful yard is sheltered by arborvitae and junipers that give the area privacy. Within are a variety of maples and vegetables, not to mention a cutting garden. 

Yet other gardens are eclectic with planting islands that host perennials and repurposed art. An English country garden will surely bring forth some sighs, particularly when viewed from the bottom of the driveway.

These are the kind of secrets, once revealed, that make a person, even one who does not like to garden, feel that body and soul are one.

We invite you to visit the 2023 Secret Garden Tour in Lake Forest Park, June 17, 9am - 3pm, to view our ‘secret’ delights. 

Discount tickets online at LfpGardenTour.com and in person at Wild Birds LFP, Third Place Books LFP and Sky Nursery Shoreline.


Read more...

Marking June 17th - for the Secret Garden Tour

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Marking June 17th
By Beth Weir

June 17th has a lot to be proud of. It is the 168th day in the Gregorian Calendar, not to mention Apple Strudel Day and Eat Your Vegetables Day. 

Given the significance of the date, celebrating the Secret Gardens Tour of Lake Forest Park, June 17th, seems like a logical thing to do before enjoying strudel and vegetables. Make it a trifecta day!

As is traditional, the 19th Secret Garden Tour will be the Saturday of Father’s Day Weekend. We cannot promise helpings of apple strudel but we can promise wonders that dedicated gardeners conjure up in their yards. 

They are labors of love and the gardens are offered for your enjoyment. There will be six on display this year for viewing at your leisure, along with artists and musicians who enhance the experience.

Before or after your tour you can visit the plant and garden art vendors located at the Lake Forest Park Town Center. Tickets for the tour itself are available now on-line at lfpgardentour.com and the early bird catches, if not a worm, a discount. Pre-sale tickets will also be at three local businesses on May 1st.

Who knows … you may find a secret garden with vegetables growing in celebration of Eat Your Vegetables Day. A bonus indeed!


Read more...

LFP Garden Tour Saturday - rain or shine

Friday, June 17, 2022


The LFP Garden Tour is Back! 

This Saturday, June 18, 2022 from 9am - 3pm at the Lake Forest Park Town Center (tickets and plants and garden art market) and six private gardens. Town Center at the intersection of Bothell and Ballinger Way NE. 

Luscious plants, garden art, musicians, working artists and unique and interesting gardens for your enjoyment rain or shine! 

Tickets for the Tour are available online or at three local ticket outlets until Friday night and then at the LFP Town Center door on Saturday. More information here



Read more...

The Lake Forest Secret Garden Tour: What to expect

Monday, May 16, 2022

Secret Garden Tour June 18
By Beth Weir

The Lake Forest Secret Garden tour on June 18 holds a particular allure in 2022, in part because it has been sidelined for the previous two years by covid restrictions. 

Pent up interest by gardeners and garden lovers, it can be fairly asserted, is the order of the day. A long, cool spring this year has only added to these feelings.

Each Secret Garden tour is distinctive and this one has its singular highlights. 

Featured across the six home gardens open to the public are plants that are either seldom seen or grandly mature. Sometimes they are both. 

In one garden visitors will find two very rare Franklinia trees, an East Coast camellia relative now extinct in the wild. 

Another features one-of-a-kind rhododendrons, one of which sports a peach-colored bloom all the way through June. Mature magnolias and a 40-year-old Hydrangea petiolaris, among other plants, fall into the grand category.

But as noted British gardener, Gertrude Jekyll has opined, this is not enough.

“I am strongly of the opinion that the possession of a quantity of plants, however good the plants may be themselves and however ample their number, does not make a garden; it only makes a collection.”

Fortunately, these rare and mature specimens have the support of interesting landscaping features, mass plantings, and ponds with goldfish if the blue herons have not been too busy. 

There is more to be seen so visitors can enjoy both the plant collections and the various features around them that have turned the landscape into gardens.

As is true for all such tours, the experience of wandering through gardens is more than the sum of its parts. 

This is particularly the case when these Edens, like those on show at Lake Forest Park are private. The individuals who have placed their yards on view, a very public and generous act, have labored to ready it in isolation. 

Home gardening, like reading, is a personal activity and requires contemplation, thought and time.

Visitors to the Lake Forest Secret Garden Tour will be the beneficiaries of this long reflection. It has added joy to the gardeners' lives and by extension will do so for those who come to view their gardens

We look forward to welcoming you to the Tour.

Pre-Tickets available 
  • online at www.lfpgardentour.com
  • in person at Wild Birds LFP, and Third Place Books LFP in Town Center at the intersection of Ballinger and Bothell Way NE
  • Sky Nursery 18528 Aurora Ave N in Shoreline
  • The Sunday Farmers Market in LFP Town Center.


Read more...

Lake Forest Park Secret Garden Tour and Market seeks gardens and volunteers

Friday, April 22, 2022


Want your garden featured on the LFP Secret Garden tour?

LFP Secret Garden presents our annual Garden Tour featuring interesting and notable gardens in Lake Forest Park.

We are inviting local area residents within the 98155 zip code to submit an application for our consideration to have their garden included in the 2023 or future years' tour. This is an ongoing process, so please contact us at any time throughout the year.

The tour is always on the 3rd Saturday in June. LFP Secret Garden Tour Volunteers will guide guests through your garden, so you can enjoy talking with the visitors. If you are interested in being one of the volunteers on the day of let us know that too.

This tour benefits four local nonprofits' services. Third Place Commons, LFP Stewardship Foundation, ShoreLake Arts, and the LFP Garden Club community beautification projects.

Please provide the following information to submit your application for consideration. We will be in touch to view your garden and answer any questions you may have about the tour. We look forward to hearing from you.
  • Name (First Last)
  • Email:
  • Phone number:
  • Address of Garden including City and Zip Code:
  • Tell us about your garden:
A few volunteers are needed for this year's event.
  • June 18th two shifts 9-12 and 12-3 
  • 3 people to be garden managers, meeting with the owners of gardens and seeing how many volunteers will be needed, then meeting with the two different shifts to make sure they know the routine.
Send your information to Janronzu@comcast.net



Read more...

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Tour is back in 2022

Friday, April 8, 2022

Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park is back in 2022
Photo courtesy SGLFP

All you know and love about the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Tour will be back in 2022. During the Covid ‘drought’ and the seasonal winter months, gardeners and garden lovers have had to content themselves with snippets of garden humor to keep cheerful. Not anymore. One circulating in Facebook feeds is now celebrating the return to the loved customs of the past.

You know that tingly feeling you get when you enter a plant store? It’s the common sense leaving your body.

It is with enormous pleasure that we announce the opportunity for you to experience the common sense leaving your body. Purchase a ticket and it will happen June 18, 2022 when, in keeping with tradition of holding the event on Father’s Day weekend, the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Tour will take place.

Some time at the Plant and Garden Art Market held at the Lake Forest Town Center will begin the tingly feeling. Those ‘hard to finds,’ ‘something whimsical,’ or even a replacement for a plant now composting will be there. 

You can also take a chance in the raffle ticket and browse the garden art finds. Then it is off to go looking for ideas in other peoples’ gardens that will work in your own. The ones that won’t, will enchant anyway.

Six gardens are on the tour. Each is different from the others, and all are labors of love by the homeowners who developed them. They will work their magic as gardens do, and so will the artists and musicians who grace them. Visitors may take their time in happy contemplation.

On top of all those make-you-feel-good-things is the knowledge that the ticket, plant and art sale proceeds go to good causes. In part, the funds provide public art for the community. Check out one such work: Five by Five by local artist, Rodger Squirrell on the corner of Bothell Way and Ballinger Way. In its soft, rippling fashion, the sculpture soothes out the harsh lines of a shopping center and roads and yours in the process.
 
The tour also supports nonprofits that help give Lake Forest Park its heartbeat. Proceeds go toward the four local organizations that collaborate to put on the Tour: Third Place Commons, the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation, ShoreLake Arts and the Lake Forest Park Garden Club. With support the groups can put on a tour again next year.

We look forward to welcoming you to the tingly world of Lake Forest Park Gardens.

Tour Day/ Hours: June 18, 2022. 9:00am – 3.00pm
Purchase Tickets: Pre-Tickets available May 1 online at EventBrite.com
In Person: Wild Birds in LFP Town Center and Sky Nursery in Shoreline
Advance Purchase: $15.00
Day of Ticket Sales at the Door: $20.00

--Beth Weir



Read more...

2020 Lake Forest Park Garden Tour - past, present, future

Friday, June 26, 2020


The Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market was planned for Saturday, June 20, the Summer Solstice, but, alas, was not to be.

For a little Tour remembrance and inspiration go to LFPGardenTour.com to view some scenes from years past (click Photos)

Then mark your calendars for next year’s event, Saturday, June 19, 2021 when they plan to be back in full bloom and look forward to having you back in person.



Read more...

Cancelled: Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park 2020

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Cancelled: Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park 2020


The Virus Won in 2020
By Beth Weir


If there were a preferred time to deal with a muscular virus, spring would likely be it. The daily walks most of us undertake in lieu of a social life these days, are surely enhanced by the blooms appearing at this time of year. The magnolias have provided one of the most expansive shows to date, heralding warmer days with their particular grandeur.

In normal times many of us would be making summer plans on our neighborhood walks. If you like plants and gardening, that would likely include a garden tour or two. But, as we are acutely aware, these are not normal times. 

There will not be many garden tours this year and among the casualties is the Lake Forest Park Secret Garden Tour. Bowing to the historic moment, the planning committee has cancelled this summer’s annual event. It would have been the 19th such tour.

Those of us who have been involved in the planning of the Secret Garden Tour are most disappointed. Our proposed date, June 20, 2020 had such a fat, joyous ring to it for starters. 

We are grateful to the six homeowners who agreed to show their gardens, knowing how much work such an endeavor entails. Our plant vendors were lined up, as were sponsors. The musicians and artists who add to the ambience of a garden experience were being approached. There had been discussion on details. We were armed and almost ready.

It cannot be, but like the magnolia, whose magnificence has a long history, we will endure. (They were blooming thanks to beetles long before bees took up the tasks of pollinating flowers.) 

Next year’s Lake Forest Park Secret Garden Tour will return June 19. Since a well-known morale booster is to put a date in the calendar so you have something to look forward to — we urge you to do so now.

In the meantime gardeners staying at home can do what they have always done; dig their dirt, plant and water, stake trees and peas, and take walks around the yard admiring what you and nature can do as a pair. 

It is not quite the same as going to see what other people have managed to do in their own gardens but as compromises go, it’s not too bad. And keep in mind that next year we will be back and we look forward to having you join us.



Read more...

Photos: Scenes from the Secrets Gardens of Lake Forest Park

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Annuals were a popular feature in all six gardens. 
This hanging planter provides plenty of space  for a mixture of summer flowers.



Photos and text by Cynthia Sheridan

The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park market and garden tours took place on Saturday, June 15, 2019. With a garden market and six gardens with art and music, there was a lot to see.

Here is just a sampling.


Hostas of all sizes were a big hit.



A dry river bed was a stunning feature in the garden.


Jacinta Green, recently of Charleston, was dressed to match the lovely fresh cut roses on her first ever garden tour. She specializes in sewing her own clothes but works in the tech industry.


This garden bench is now the home of some sassy succulents.


The glamorous Friday night pre-party was a real treat for garden tour volunteers.


Fiery Barberry creates a summer splash of color alongside a garden entry. 


Art and artists were abundant, along with musicians and master gardeners. This floral canvas is by Lake Forest Park artist Debbie Tomassi.

Note the sign for the Mera'ki art show (see previous article)

If you missed the tour this year, you'll have another chance - in 12 months.




Read more...

Reminder - Secret Gardens of LFP - Garden Tour and Market on Saturday

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Reminder that the 17th annual Lake Forest Park Garden Tour is on Saturday, June 15, 2019, from 9:00am to 3:00pm. 

The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour and Market is a collaboration among four local nonprofits that serve the community—Third Place Commons, Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation, Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council, and Lake Forest Park Garden Club.

The tour includes access to six local gardens, each selected for the community’s enjoyment by garden scouts. 

Each garden provides a look at creative ways to imagine gardening. 

Ticket holders for this self-guided tour can look behind the gates and into the grounds of some of the City’s finest gardens. 

Music and art are featured in each of the gardens to enhance the experience of the tour.

Tickets are available online or at Town Center Hardware or Wildbirds Unlimited, and are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Visit the ticket table at LFP Town Center on tour day to exchange your advance ticket for a map to the gardens.

The lower level of the Town Center will be transformed into a plant and garden art market. Local nurseries will sell flowers, shrubs, and greenery that will thrive in our gardens.

Garden artists will have their art available for sale, too — whimsical birdhouses, mosaic artwork, garden pottery, mason bees, and more — all designed to make your garden more beautiful while harmonizing with your natural garden environment.




Read more...
ShorelineAreaNews.com
Facebook: Shoreline Area News
Twitter: @ShorelineArea
Daily Email edition (don't forget to respond to the Follow.it email)

  © Blogger template The Professional Template II by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP