Look what can happen when you go to Point Roberts to see beautiful gardens

Over the years I’ve had a lot of fun going to visit private gardens on special tours organized by Point Roberts Garden Club.

One of the most memorable was in 2014 when I ended up meeting Dave and Jenny Stumpo for the first time.

They have a beautiful garden overlooking the ocean. At that time, their garden was full of ornamental grasses and bee balm and yarrow and sedums.

It made me think of the casual, natural style of planting made famous by Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf.

Dave and Jenny have since come on one of my gardens tours – to Italy, travelling with me and others from Venice to Tuscany and then down to Puglia.

We got to know one another much better and have became firm friends.

I tell you all this because this is what often happens when you visit gardens, especially when you go on a tour of private gardens – you not only get to see wonderful gardens, you often end up meeting new, exciting people. You also get to pick up lots of great ideas for your own garden.

Point Roberts – a small, peninsula community located just over the border in the U.S., south of Tsawwassen, is again holding a tour of private gardens this month organized by the local garden club.

It is again a wonderful opportunity for garden lovers to have a nice day out with friends, walking around beautiful private gardens.

The tour, held every two years, is a self-guided affair. Your ticket comes with a map showing the location of all the gardens. The tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 12.

Tickets are $15 and will be on sale at the corner of Tyee Drive & McKenzie on the day of the Tour until 2 pm, one block on the right after crossing the border. Advance tickets are being sold at Aunty Pam’s & Nielsons Building Supplies in Point Roberts; Harris Nursery Centre in East Ladner; Flowers Beautiful in Tsawwassen; and Blue Door Interiors in Ladner Village.

Jennifer Urquhart, publicist for the event, says eight gardens will be open this year, including “a whimsical garden made for strolling and bird watching, a private park with a forest backdrop, on the site of a former nursery, a garden with 185 different types of roses and a water’s edge secret garden.”

If you go, don’t forget to take your passport; it can be a drag to drive all that way only to get turned back at the border.

For more information, for to the garden club’s website at

www.pointrobertsgardenclub.org

HOW TO GET THERE:

Point Roberts is located due South of Tsawwassen, BC.  From Highway 99, turn West onto Highway 17, and then left onto 56^th Street and follow the road until it ends at the border.  From the Island Ferries, take Highway 17 East, turn right on 56^th Street and continue to the border.