STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Toni and Matt Bogue have turned a plot of sagebrush and knapweed into a garden full of  plants that are useful for food, medicine, tinctures, teas and balms, linked by paths filled with rock on landscape fabric that provides a weed barrier.

Gail Severn has filled her garden with native plants, such as elderberry, syringa and chokecherry trees amidst legendary compost mounds, fine art sculptures, a meadow boasting 500 bulbs and a large pond that serves as the summer home to mallards who nurture their ducklings among wild roses.

These are two of the six gardens that will be featured on the Sawtooth Botanical Garden’s 30th anniversary Garden Tour on Saturday.

The tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 26, and will benefit the public garden south of Ketchum.

“People always think we showcase only big flashy unapproachable landscapes. We do feature gardens like that. But we also showcase DIY (do it yourself) gardens,” said Jen Smith, the executive director of the Sawtooth Botanical Garden. “It’s a way for locals, second homeowners and visitors to see what’s possible in challenging growing conditions at high elevation with a short growing season.”

This year’s tour is just south of Ketchum with two properties in Gimlet, two off Broadway Run south of the hospital and the fifth next door to the Sawtooth Botanical Garden. Bicyclists can easily use the Wood River Trail bike path to bike to the various properties.

Those crossing the bridge into Gimlet will be greeted by the garden of Candice and Richard Stark, which includes a repurposed cone crusher-turned firepit, a wooden hot tub set on a floating deck and a serene meditation garden.

Up on the Gimlet Bench, Mark and Ali Fuller’s garden offers a magnanimous view of the surrounding mountains and the river and valley below, in addition to a colorful garden bordered by a curving rock wall.

Near the Severn garden is the Sarah Woodward’s garden, aka the Big Wood Summer Playground, which includes a sheep camp with a sheep wagon, outdoor mud kitchen, fire pit and antique quilt collection.

Tourgoers can finish the tour in the Sawtooth Botanical Garden, which recently acquired a couple of new sculptures, including a head-spinning archway by stone artist Gabe Embler. Despo’s food truck will be on the scene selling margaritas, beer, wine and taco goodies.

“We’ll have artists, such as Nancy Vandiver, in each garden painting what they see. And they’ll be glad to have people watch and talk to them. And we’ll also have musicians,” said Smith. “Plus, we’ll have plant experts at each garden who will be able to point out various plants and answer questions about everything from edible plants to beautiful plants.”

Tickets are $40 for Sawtooth Botanical Garden members and $45 for non-members. They’ll be on sale online at https://checkout.square.site/buy/YZRMOCLVL3YRLLLULSSV54L3 until Friday. They’ll be available for purchase at each garden on Saturday.

Gail Severn and Sarah Woodward’s gardens are at 105 and 106 River Rock Lane. Candice and Richard Stark’s is at 101 Madison Ave. in Gimlet and Alexandra and Marc Fuller’s, at 309 Madison Ave. in Gimlet.

Toni, Matt and Georgia Bogue’s garden is at 12440 State Highway 75 just north of the Sawtooth Botanical Garden, which is at Gimlet Road and Highway 75.

SIP AND SHOP ON SATURDAY

J.McLaughlin will donate 10 percent of sales to the Sawtooth Botanical Garden from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 26. Sips and summer shopping will take place at 520 E. 4th St. in Ketchum.