STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Kirk and Kim Peterson’s journey began 30 years ago when they left the lush rain forests surrounding Seattle to move to a sun-kissed acre just north of the Cloverly Ranch 10 miles south of Sun Valley.

They added shade trees to the aspen and chokecherry that were already on their new property in Deer Creek. Then they built garden beds from the outside of the property in.

And on Saturday they opened their property to hundreds of people taking part in the Sawtooth Botanical Garden’s 24^th annual Garden Tour.

Dozens of people wandered the gravel paths winding through the Peterson’s property hidden behind a fence of cherry wood. They squealed in delight as they stumbled upon little surprises like a bocce court, Gabe Embler’s balance-defying rock sculptures and even a gardenia, a flowering plant from the coffee family that flavored the air with a tropical perfume.

The Petersons’ log home stood in its midst, its towering picture windows looking out onto a piece of Puget Sound in the Wood River Valley.

“This is very evocative of the Pacific Northwest. It’s probably the shadiest garden in the valley,” said Kim Chaplin, an AmeriCorps representative with the Sawtooth Botanical Garden. “And it seems like you can walk for miles.”

Kirk Peterson told how his wife had supplied much of the inspiration, having served on the foundation of an arboretum while living in Seattle. And he told how he and his son Jens had brought in a load and a half of gravel for the paths every year for the last 25 years and dug shovelfuls of dirt to create berms and raised beds on what had been a flat piece of ground.

“It’s beautiful dirt to work with—there’s three feet of topsoil here,” he said. “And this is a migration path for wildlife. We have moose, elk, deer, bears—I’ve seen everything but cougar. And they don’t notice us when we’re in the observatory.”

Tourgoers were impressed with the diversity of the gardens.  

Stephen and Lynne Heidel’s pesticide-free yard in Starweather resembled a park-like setting, complete with a golf hole on one patio.

A low winding wall, which hid University of Iowa cornhole games, created a separation from the woods beyond.

“When I sit in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, I feel as if I’m sitting in a national park,” said Stephen Heidel. “We have moose, elk and deer come through here continuously.”

Barbara and David Rognlien’s Zinc Spur garden surrounding their attractive barn-like home with its charming red shutters was as notable for its tasteful sculptures as its beds of giant hydrangeas, daylilies and oriental lilies.

A life-sized Holstein cow ostensibly grazing in the meadow greeted tourgoers as they arrived. Other sculptures included a charming birdbath boasting a curious young girl, a moose made of horseshoes and a windmill.

“When you’ve been around as long as we have there’s no telling what you can find,’ said David Rognlien.

Cindy Hamlin helped Barbara Rognlien carry out her vision of a cottage garden that blooms from spring until fall with peonies, delphiniums and daylilies. And a bridge over a seasonal water canal led tourgoers through an arch covered in honeysuckles and more sculptures placed amidst a natural meadow frequented by moose and deer.

“Living in L.A., as we have, you have to have something natural to look at,” said Barbara Rognlien, as a wasp popped out of one of the birdhouses.

John and Cherie Morris’ home in Valley Club’s Streamside neighborhood featured a variety of plants, including rarely seen Japanese Anemones and daylilies transplanted from family gardens in Virginia.

Those checking out Mona and Pete Prudden’s home just down the street were greeted with birch trunks featuring small white lights strung around them in the courtyard.

The first to build in Streamside, the former Tulsa, Okla., couple picked a spot by a lake. And they accented beautiful blooming beds of hydrangeas, potentilla, Echinacea and cranesbill with a few simple touches, such as a strategically placed blue butterfly, a life-sized sheep statue and a little frog.

“I like how she’s grouped orange day lilies with yellow Asian lilies and purples,” said Helen Stone, one of 50 volunteers helping with the tour.

Cindy Hamlin also helped Bob and Claudie Goldstein create a French country garden in their yard at Starweather. They got the idea during a trip to France as 9-11 unfolded.

“We picked out centuries-old French artifacts, including tiny man sculptures that lock down the shutters, so there’s a lot of history. The garden welcomes the wild so it’s not too fussy,” said Hamlin.

The Goldsteins moved out of their home a few months ago. But the new owners Aimee Eiguren and Robert Necochea feel entirely comfortable in a French country garden setting, having honeymooned in France.

They take care of the perennials themselves and delight in the little living nooks spaced throughout the yard. And the wildlife delights in it, too, judging from a swallow that ducked into one of Hamlin’s birdhouses as she led tourgoers.

“Yesterday we had a bull elk and moose in the yard at the same time,” she said.

Proceeds from the garden tour will support the Sawtooth Botanical Garden, which receives no government or university funds as do many public gardens.

“The existence of a public botanical garden in an area of with a population of fewer than 200,000 is indeed very special,” according to Panayoti Kelaidis, of the Denver Botanical Gardens.

COMING UP:

The Sawtooth Botanical Garden will hold its Gimlets in the Garden summer gala from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the garden. For more information, visit www.sbgarden.org.

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