Horticultural Society presents its annual Garden Tour this weekend
By Samantha Johnson Special to the News on July 12, 2022.
The annual Garden Tour, presented by the Medicine Hat and District Horticultural Society, has returned for 2022. “People are excited about it. We started to get requests for if there was going to be a garden tour this year and when tickets would go on sale about two months ago,” said Mel Deydey, newsletter editor and media communications co-ordinator. The final gardens committed in the second week of June and 600 tickets went on sale two weeks ago. Tickets are $10 and are still available at Blondies Gift & Garden, Windmill Garden Centre, Tourist Information on Gehring Road, Redcliff Public Library and Suntaira Growers Inc. in Redcliff. The tour is self-guiding, allowing ticket holders to visit the gardens in the order they choose. There are eight gardens from the far south of the city over to Crescent Heights. “There will be different soil types and different micro-climates. It gives people an opportunity to see what can be done in certain yards, whether they are large or tiny,” said Deydey. Each house has a sign on the front lawn indicating it is part of the garden tour. In addition, a Horticultural Society host will be at the front gate to check and mark off tickets. Homeowners will be onsite for anyone with questions. “With the timely rains this year, everything is looking so lush, green and in bloom,” commented Deydey. With the arrival of warmer weather, it promises to be a great day. The main purpose of the Horticultural Society is to promote horticulture, and the Garden Tour is its primary fundraiser. There are monthly meetings where they often have speakers. Members are actively involved in the community, such as maintaining garden beds at Ewart Duggan House and planting food beds for the Root Cellar. The club sponsored a workshop at TRAD Worm Industries, located close to the city, which many members attended. The first Garden Tour that was open to the public was in 1992 and ran consecutively every year until 2019, when they had to stop due to the pandemic. The tour sold out in 2019 and is expected to sell out this year so if you are interested, don’t delay in getting your tickets. 9-8
