If you wandered into Charlie Finley’s yard on the afternoon of July 11, there’s a good chance you heard him explaining the proper way to prune a basil plant, or giving tips on how to grow asparagus in Jasper’s cold climate.
Finley’s yard is a perfectly manicured, yet welcoming space. It offers a showcase of what a dedicated green thumb can accomplish—and he can talk to you for hours about how he does it.
“There’s 65 frost-free days in a year here,” he proclaimed to a group of ladies in sun hats, after one commented how “inspirational” his garden is. “It’s a short season, but you can get a lot done.”
Finley was one of 10 gardeners in town who opened up their backyards last weekend, as part of the Friends of Jasper Municipal Library’s annual Secret Garden Tour.
The afternoon tour was a self-guided affair that gave curious green thumbs a chance to wander through the blossoms of their fellow plant-lovers, exchanging tips and sipping on iced tea and lemonade.
Judy Krefting, director of library servcies, said that the tour is above all else about giving people a chance to show off their gardens.
“It’s a lot of work for the gardeners to get their gardens in shape, but they have a lot of fun,” she said.
And it’s not until you step off the street into some of the worlds those gardeners have created that you realize how much effort some of them put in. Each garden is different, and reflects the unique motivation of its gardener.
Walk into Annelies Laggner’s garden and you’re confronted with an explosion of purple blossoms. Potted plants occupy nearly every open space in her small backyard, and they are arranged with delicate intricacy.
During the tour, Laggner flittered through her blooms, handing out pictures to clumps of touring patrons.
She explained that she works on her garden for six to seven hours a day, watering all the plants by hand with a watering can.
“My rest is between 11 p.m. and midnight, and I sit on that bench and I can finally take it in,” she said, gesturing to a wooden bench that overlooks the short boardwalk winding its way through the maze of pots.
Moving to her front yard, she pointed out a clump of “lollipop” lilies. They are some of her favourite flowers, she said, because “they have a certain colour that makes you smile.
“I love my garden,” Laggner said. “I would not last the summer without it.”
Gord Ruddy’s garden is a splash of colour, consisting of mostly wildflowers, while the Krefting’s garden features a waterfall that George was tinkering with. For him, gardening is more about the process of building something than the finished product.
Across town, Leona Amann sat among displays of her artwork in her front yard, painting some of her flowers. Her garden is natural and green, with splashes of colour peeking out.
The artist remembered moving to her house more than a decade ago, when “none of this existed.” She spent 14 years creating a garden space where she can sit and paint.
“Gardening is like painting; you’re still using form and colour, but it’s a living medium,” she said
According to Krefting, this year the library sold just over 40 tickets, bringing in about $750 dollars. She said that in the future, the library wants to push to sell more tickets to tourists, increasing the number of people taking the tour, and in turn the number of admirers for the town’s green thumbs.
Trevor Nichols
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