Vashon Allied Arts’ Garden Tour, scheduled for June 21 to 22, has something for everyone this year — not only leisurely strolls through exclusive private gardens, but also opportunities to hear live music, shop for garden-related items, bid on a silent auction of one-of-a-kind birdhouses and enjoy a cornucopia of new garden art by dozens of artists.
The Garden Market, located at the Burton Hill Bishop garden, will feature garden-related items such as lamps, cards, handmade soaps, birdhouses and more. Hats — the most important wardrobe accessory of any garden tour — will also be available for sale.
The Abel/Stanislaw garden will be the scene of the unique silent auction, sponsored by The Little House, with all proceeds benefitting Vashon Allied Arts programs.
The auction will feature 16 unique, artist-embellished birdhouses. Each birdhouse will have a bid sheet with minimum bid of $50 with $10 increments. Bids can be placed the entire weekend of the tour, ending at 5 p.m., Sunday, June 22.
Birdhouse artists include Dean Hanmer, Jerry Balcom, Kathleen Kinney, David Erue, Lynanne Raven, Kristen Reitz Green, Margaret Tylczak, Claire Dohna, Nancy Foster Moss, Sy Novak, Mary Rothermel, Bobbi Arnold, Donna Romero, Edith Sehulster, William Forrester and Sharon Munger.
Live music will also be heard throughout the weekend. Multi-instrumentalist Chip Lamason will play acoustic mandolin and violin from 1 to 3 p.m., Saturday, June 21, in the McEldowney/Mitchell garden. The Celtic guitar and fiddle sounds of Southwind, with Marilyn Kleyn on violin, Steve Austin on guitar and Lynn Carrigan on guitar and bodhran, will be featured from 1 to 3 p.m., on both Saturday and Sunday, in the Abel/Stanislaw garden. Leslie McMichael will play the harp from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, at the Rhodes/Deaton garden.
Each garden on the tour will be bursting not only with blooms, but also with art. Objects on display will include mosaic sculpture by Dean Hamner; handmade glazed tile mosaics by Clare Dohna; blown glass and mosaic glass garden flowers by Brian Brenno; fused glass garden art by Benjamin Grossman; recycled glass and steel flowers by Mike Urban; stone birdbaths and fountains by Dean Paulson; garden benches by Hans Nelson; steel garden sculptures by Steve Zartman; wood and metal found object fish mobile sculptures by Jane Howard; painted glass garden objects by Nancy Fiala; cast glass with stone and bronze sculptures by Barbara Wells; metal sculpture by David Erue, metal sculpture; and woven wood outdoor hangings by Carolyn Price.
Garden Tour tickets cost $25, and are available at Blue Heron, Heron’s Nest and DIG. Call 463-5131 to reserve by phone. Garden Tour is sponsored by John L. Scott and Puget Sound Energy with additional funding by Thriftway, JR Crawford, DIG and The Little House.
