STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Mary Kay Foley stood outside a picturesque estate on the Gimlet bench with a sign in one hand that said “Whoa!”

It was meant to direct traffic to parking. But it was a fitting sentiment for a day that challenged Wood River Valley residents and visitors to literally stop and smell the roses as they wandered through six lovely gardens during the Sawtooth Botanical Garden’s 30th annual Garden Tour.

A few hundred people turned out for the tour, which benefits the Sawtooth Botanical Garden. And they were rewarded with gardens that displayed a wide range of diversity, such interesting blooms as the American spikenard and other little details that set each apart.

Mary Kay Foley, known for applying Healing Touch at St. Luke’s Wood River, had a radio in hand to let another sign holder at the bottom of the hill know when a car or bicyclist might be heading down the narrow road.

“This garden is absolutely fabulous. There’s everything for everybody,” said Helen Stone as she walked visitors through a spacious garden under towering cottonwood trees that can and do dump a foot of snowlike cottonseed in early summer. “There’s beautiful flowers, a children’s area, a fire circle for adults, birds….”

Indeed, a path led past hasta and lavender masterwort to a pickleball court that had been converted from a paddle court. Nearby sat a sheep wagon in a sheep camp displaying the owner’s collection of quilts, including some she’d recently made herself at the Fabric Granary in Hailey. Modern-day Adirondack chairs sat around a enclosed fire pit while a camp kitchen sat off to the side guarded by animal trophy heads made of woven grass.

On the patio was a table made from a cottonwood that had been cut down by the airport. It’s convex in the middle meaning that, if you spilled wine, it would run to the middle of the table and not on your white sun dress. Nearby were two spirit houses from Southeast Asia festooned with marigold flowers.

“Don’t forget to check out way they’ve displayed the clematis,” Stone said, directing visitors toward a weaving path made out of tree slices.

Rick and Candice Stark’s garden shed captivated the attention of more than a few tourgoers.

Gail Severn’s garden burst with flowers and sculptures while still staying true to the woodlands that surrounded it.

Amy Mattias’ 17-month-old daughter Talia, dressed in a pale yellow sundress with a little sun hat, stared at a lily pond boasting fully open white lilies.

“She saw strawberries and raspberries and was all excited because she knew those. Now she’s curious about these blooming lilies,” said Mattias, just before Tahlia’s attention turned to teeny tiny alpine strawberries hugging the ground that tourgoers were encouraged to sample.

Kathleen Cameron gamely chose a spot to set up her easel, all the while trying to capture the copious bounty with the mountains in the background.

The giant yellow hardhead knapweed in the Bogue yard is a perennial with thistle-like flowers enclosed in brown bracts that resemble pinecones.

Others sipped cucumber-laced water on a patio sporting pillows that matched the color of the sky, their privacy afforded by towering delphiniums and other flowers clinging to a wire fence surrounding the patio.

Visitors marveled at the deep red tomato they spotted growing in Mark and Ali Fuller’s garden, which not only was the furthermost north but also the highest in elevation.

The yard featured lovely views of the mountains lining the valley, many of which could be seen through several sculptures in the yard.

A children’s playground built up against the sagebrush-covered hillside featured everything a child could want, including two slides, a trampoline and a swing set. A Cindy Hamlin-designed birdhouse in one corner of the yard looked big enough to be an apartment for birds.

Cherie Kessler displays one of her Sun Valley postcard plaques.

A path took tourgoers past Richard and Candice Stark’s home made of wood siding and stone to blend into the natural landscape.

There, at the end of the yard, was a gardener’s shed that many of them would give their eyeteeth for.

The path skirted a bocce court past a meditation garden to a hot tub hiding behind magenta-colored spirea.

“When was the last time you saw a wooden hot tub?” asked said Robin East.

“It has such a lovely view. It’s just so relaxing said Deb Strachan. “And be sure to look up on the deck where the husband is growing vegetables.”

The path wound steel siding blocking a view of the driveway past purple catmint that seemed to be everywhere.

“I have tons in my yard and it’s just comes back every year,” said artist Sue Johnston, who was painting a watercolor of her surroundings as tourgoers stopped to check out her art.