STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

They started growing things at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden Wednesday night. And they didn’t even get their hands dirty doing it.

A sell-out crowd of nearly 200 people turned out to support the public garden south of Ketchum during its annual Garden Gala benefit.

The garden took on an Asian flavor with its theme of Journey to the Far East. Patrons walked past two lion statues and a row of lighted paper lanterns to a nook featuring a peacock made of peacock feathers, delphinium, salvia, chrysanthemums and banana leaves by Nickie Adler of Sun Valley Florist.

Paper dragons were hung from the greenhouse while Oriental umbrellas and paper lanterns hung from the ceiling of the gala tent.

And many of the patrons dressed for the occasion as they munched on spring rolls, pot stickers and Thai chicken served up by the likes of Dang’s, Rickshaw and Haven.

Hailey resident Diana Landis, for instance, wore an outfit she’d picked up during a trip to Cambodia eight years ago. And Tim Nelson even wore a Fu Manchu mustache and traditional Chinese hair braid with his red Chinese gentleman outfit.

“Actually, I love it,” he said of the outfit. “It’s very cool.”

The public garden, which attracts 14,000 visitors a year, is a living museum, noted the garden’s president Susan Flynt. It teaches young people to be stewards of the environment through its Growing Great Minds school program and other children’s programs.

Not only are gardens uplifting but they lift the weight off people’s shoulders after a busy day, said Kat Vanden Heuvel, the garden’s director. And it gives members of organizations such as Higher Ground a sense of accomplishment after digging in the earth.

“We’re planting seeds for the future. It’s not just about the structure or the beautiful flowers but what it does for people,” said auctioneer Larry Flynn.

The auction block featured a lot of items those who love the garden had pulled together, including a Solar Eclipse Mimosa Party, a vacation in Punta Mita, Mexico, and a cocktail party at Gail Severn.

Silent auction items included an Indian beadwork birdhouse created by Cherie Kessler, a bronze fabricated totem by Douglas Gran and Lisa Holley’s artwork featuring Bald Mountain.

Hosts noted how the garden is always reinventing itself. Case in point: The free tours of its Garden of Infinite Compassion at 10 a.m. Saturdays this summer.

Jeanne Cassell, who has led wildflower walks for the garden for years, led eight visitors around the garden this past Saturday. The four out-of-town visitors had been here when the Dalai Lama came, along with Tibetan natives coming from Portland to see him. And they were eager to revisit the prayer wheel the Dalai Lama donated with its million handwritten prayers inside.

“Having him visit the garden was very special,” recalled Cassell. “Three of us were supposed to give him a marigold lei. The first draped the flowers around his neck and bowed. Then it was my turn. As I started to do the same, he laughed and said, ‘One is enough! Thank you very much!’ So that’s what I took away from that—that one is enough.”

Chiyo Parten noted how she recently brought a houseguest from Indonesia to the Garden of Infinite Compassion.

“I love the garden. It’s a place of peace where you can meditate and be with nature. And in this time of uncertainty and unrest, it’s important to have a place like that where you can go to,” she said.

Diana Landis recalled when the berm on the backside of the garden was full of stinging nettles.

“It was kind of a dump for grass clippings. Now look at it how beautiful it is,” she said gesturing toward rock terraces sporting blanket flowers and more. “It’s a life saver for all the gardeners who live in the high desert. It provides relief from the desert, and it provides knowledge about what to plant in the high desert.”

John and Gina Wolcott have championed the garden for years, with John even serving on the board.

“When we first moved here, we spent a lot of time here trying to figure out what would grow in our new home,” said John Wolcott. “The Sawtooth Botanical Garden is a great public space and a great source of information.”

SAWTOOTH BOTANICAL GARDEN BY THE YEARLY NUMBERS

• 922 kids served through youth education programs
• 425 adult education participants
• 1,694 Bug Zoo participants
• 98 wildflower walkers
• 14,000 visitors to the garden
• 25 community group meetings held here
• 365 days the garden is open