STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
One garden sports a steel and wooden pergola with a dramatic four-spout water feature and a yard accented with large wall-hanging metal artworks. Another features metal daffodils in amongst perennials, a small basalt fountain and metal sculptures by Joseph Knnebrew.
Still another features drought-resistant native currants, skunk bushes and silver buffalo berry amidst walls and pathways made from Chief Cliff flagstone and boulders brought in from Montana
These are a few of the oases in the Golden Eagle neighborhood that await garden lovers on the Sawtooth Botanical Garden’s 31st Annual Garden Tour.
The tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 25. Tickets are $40 for Sawtooth Botanical Garden members and $45 for non-members, available at https://www.sbgarden.org/events/31st-annual-garden-tour.
The price of the ticket, which benefits the five-acre public Sawtooth Botanical Garden south of Ketchum, will increase by $5 on Thursday, July 23.
“We have six beautiful homes in Golden Eagle with one at the mouth of East Fork. Two are on Limekiln Road just before you hit the dirt road taking you to the trailhead parking area,” said SBG Board Chair Kathie Gouley. “Tourgoers can expect garden art, water features and expansive landscapes in a mountain setting.”
Tourgoers can easily cruise from garden to garden by bicycle, accessing the garden at the mouth of East Fork Canyon by going through the tunnel under the highway.
Artists Nancie Vandiver, Mike Olenick, Kathleen Cameron, Gabe Embler, Poo Wright-Pulliam, Brooke Vagias and Barb Leslie will be stationed at the various gardens painting and assembling rock sculptures. Music makers include Taul Paul, Tim East and the Wood River Orchestra.
“The best thing is that people get to explore ideas for their own yards. Anyone can go on the tour and see what they can grow and find one or two plants they might want to add to their own garden,” said Gouley.
The Sawtooth Botanical Garden’s board of directors recently hired a new executive director—Hilary Bilinski, who will start Aug. 7. She grew up in the Wood River Valley and is anxious to come back, her husband and children in tow, after working with nonprofits in Boise.
She comes to the garden after serving as deputy director at The Cabin, a literary arts nonprofit in Boise.
The garden also recently raised the money to purchase the land on which it sits and officials will sign on the dotted line July 30. The garden plans to hold a valley-wide thank you party celebrating the donors who made the purchase possible in October.
At the public’s request, the garden wants to offer more public speakers, said Gouley and SBG Vice Chair Juliet Romano: “We had 45 people come out for a special speaker on native plants that we hosted in conjunction with plant sale this past month.
“Now, we hope to offer presentations on an variety of things from greenhouse gardens to building esplanades.”