The 19th People, Plants and Places (PPP) tour went off without a hitch last weekend, with weather co-operating and allowing hundreds of islanders and visitors to see the outstanding gardens of the seven homes and two other island sites on this year's tour.
"At this point, we don't have a head count but we do know that we had an excellent turn-out," organizer Lois Meyers-Carter told the Undercurrent in an email this week. "The sites were well balanced and offered lots of items to observe. The hosts were great and volunteers enjoyed their jobs."
The tour sees homeowners open their homes and gardens to visitors who take advantage of the opportunity to see gardens that have had a great deal of time and planning put into them and are situated in picturesque surroundings.
Judith Bowersox is from Vancouver but this is the fourth time in the past seven years she's come over to take the tour with her niece, Tracey, who lives on-island, and other family. "It was absolutely wonderful again," Bowersox said. "Each time, it's been a really great tour and this year was no different."
Among the tour's many highlights was the garden of Chris Pollard and Ann Ramsay. When they began, they had to drill through rock to create a bed for their home. They started their journey to a beautiful garden with what essentially amounted to a rock quarry.
Looking at their English country style garden now shows how far a gardener's determination and passion can go.
By Sunday afternoon, Pollard and Ramsay said they'd had 500 or more visitors to their garden and, while admitting some fatigue, they were continuing to enjoy the experience. Despite the high turnout at every site on Sunday, hosts were graciously exchanging information with their guests.
Along with seven homes, the tour included the Museum and Archives and the Memorial Gardens in Crippen Park.
From its inception in 1993, the tour has been presented yearly but in 2010 the decision was made to go every second year.
The next PPP tour is planned for 2014.
