GREENFIELD — Pamela McBride, a member of the Greenfield Garden Club, recalls going on her first club-sponsored tour of local gardens.
“The tour provided me with inspiration for my own gardens,” she said.
If you, too, seek inspiration, or simply wish to take in local beauty, this is your lucky year. The Garden Tour — formerly annual, now biennial — is happening this weekend.
The self-guided tour is scheduled for Saturday, July 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a rain date of Sunday, July 10. But club members are fond of saying that unless it’s driving rain that makes you wish you’d built an ark, the tour will go forward in the event of light or intermittent rain.
Tickets are $10, with no charge for children under 12, and can be obtained only on the day of the tour (along with tour maps) from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jon Zon Community Center, 35 Pleasant St. in Greenfield.
McBride, who works in Information Services at the Greenfield Public Library, appreciates the landscaping in front of the building tended by members of the Greenfield Garden Club (GGC).
“Eva Carrier and Nicki Shipman tend this area,” said McBride, gesturing to gracefully shaped, blossom-filled beds. “The group does so much in and around town. I’m glad I went on that first tour, and have gotten more involved.”
In fact, McBride decided to join the Greenfield Garden Club after the group participated in a library-sponsored program called “Meet Your Neighbors.”
As a participating member, McBride helped plan this year’s garden tour. A 20-year Greenfield resident, she “grew up all over, but largely in central Mass. and New Hampshire,” and has a long history of gardening. “My grandmother had beautiful land in southern Vermont. I’ve always gardened.”
One inspiration McBride gained from taking her first club tour led her to plant a section of hostas for her husband. “He just loves hostas,” she said.
Getting involved and sharing ideas are hallmarks of many gardeners. Greenfield resident Carol Ball, another tour planner, said, “The tour exposes people to different types of gardens, all of which have different challenges. This year, we have gardens that are part of the tour for the first time.”
Tourgoers can see vegetable and flower gardens, one with vermicomposting (using specific worms), and pollinator gardens, including one at the John Zon Center. Tour gardens will also feature native plantings, perennials, methods that embrace natural wildness, and innovative ways of growing, including in one’s front yard.
“Other gardeners can help us learn how to adapt to what we’ve been given,” said McBride, “and we can discover ways to transform our landscapes.”
As a bonus, people seeking soil evaluations may bring samples to the John Zon Center between 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday; pH testing will be offered by members of the Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association (WMMGA) for a suggested donation of $2.
While on site, you can also view garden plots behind the John Zon building, tended by members of the Pleasant Street Community Garden.
Previous tours have included gardens outside of Greenfield, including in Leyden and Gill, but this year all tour gardens are located in our county seat.
“But people don’t have to live in Greenfield to join our club,” Ball emphasized. “We welcome interested gardeners from around our region.”
Ball and her spouse, Randie Handelman, have participated in the club for most of its 30+ years. Ball noted that, while tour gardens in any given year tend to be inspiring and distinctive, “They don’t have to be award-winning or right out of House Beautiful. We look for folks who love sharing their gardens and don’t mind having others on their property throughout the course of one day.”
She referred to enthusiastic gardeners as “generally adventuresome. They receive admiration from neighbors, and find it fun to share (their gardens) with a wider audience.”
Over the years, according to Ball, each tour has drawn 60 or 70 visitors. But there was a dramatic increase in 2020. “We got about 200! I guess people were hungry for something safe to do, somewhere safe to go during a pandemic. You can’t beat an event that’s held completely outside when it comes to avoiding a virus.”
The Garden Club has a rich history of bringing motivated, fun-loving people together and getting a lot done in the process. Activities have included the now biannual Memorial Day Plant Sale known as the Extravaganza. (Like the garden tour, the plant sale was annual; the Club now hosts the events in intervening years.)
The GGC has built floats for the Franklin County Fair Parade “with the kind assistance of Miner Thompson and his truck/flatbed,” said Ball, who grew up in Old Deerfield. “One year, our float contained an iconic replica of the fair’s Roundhouse, lent by friends from Shelburne Falls.” The group has frequently won the coveted Cushman Award with their displays at the back door of the Roundhouse.
For many years, the group maintained a garden at the intersection of Federal and Silver Streets in an area known as the Trap Plain Common. They’ve sponsored “Adopt-A-Barrel’ contests wherein individuals or groups would tend one or more whiskey-barrel planters placed around town.
Many of the barrels were originally procured by the late Barbara Tillmans, fondly known as “Mrs. Greenfield.” After barrels were planted and maintained all summer, they were judged by local experts, including Brian McGowan, Stacy Chapley, and Steve Malsch. Monetary prizes and GGC memberships were awarded in several categories.
Through grants, the GGC has also provided financial support to teachers in area schools wanting to introduce students to gardening. Although the program was suspended due to pandemic restrictions, club members look forward to again boosting local teachers and kids in producing edible produce and beautifying school grounds and other spaces, including apartment complexes.
Many GGC members also like to cook, and have produced two cookbooks of recipes, inspiring members to share food at potluck gatherings. But they don’t keep the yumminess all to themselves; they’ve also helped cook and serve as part of the Community Meal Program hosted by the Second Congregational Church.
“Often, in late summer, we provide a complete meal with locally grown vegetables and bouquets of flowers from our own gardens,” Ball said. “Many guests love the fact that they’re welcome to take a bouquet home.”
McBride looks forward to gaining more ideas from this year’s tour. “I’m kind of a lazy gardener,” she confessed. “Well, let’s call it realistic. Due to time constraints, I have to keep it simple. Two of my perennial gardens are lovely lightning bug habitats, which is another way of saying they’re overgrown! But I love redesigning and revamping.”
Her motto, “one thing at a time,” has sustained McBride through many gardening adventures, including one in Boston where she grew plants on a tiny plot. “I love plants. Perennials are my favorite, because they’re pretty low maintenance. But who knows what I’ll come away with from this year’s tour?”
For more information, contact Norm Hirschfeld at 773-0201 / nhms41@comcast.net.
Eveline MacDougall is the author of “Fiery Hope” and an avid gardener, artist, musician, and mom.