Garden tour 'groupies' offer sage advice for tourgoers: 'Don't pick the flowers'

Grab your straw hat and sensible shoes.

For plant lovers, it's the most wonderful time of the year — garden tour season. In Minnesota, it's a chance to take advantage of how lucky we are to have a wealth of brave and generous green-fingered souls who open their garden gates each summer to give a closeup of their lovely landscapes.

Over the next few weekends, garden clubs and community groups will host tours of private and public grounds to keep plant enthusiasts entertained and educated as the growing season peaks.

As a self-proclaimed "groupie" on the garden tour circuit who has also hosted one of these in the past, I believe that part of the fun is exchanging stories and words of wisdom with regulars and novices alike.

Garden tour groupies

Some tours have a set itinerary and include transportation, while others are self-guided.

For me, the main incentive is to gain access to otherwise hidden realms. After all, you can only see so much of a beautiful garden from a slow drive-by or that casual craning of the neck on your evening walk. And front yards don't always tell the whole story; it's often the backyard where these ambitious gardeners really let their imaginations go wild.

Even for the experienced gardener, it can change one's perspective as you see how another green thumb approaches similar challenges and opportunities. I never fail to return from a tour without a new plant or concept I'm eager to try in my own garden.

I also love hearing stories from other gardeners such as Michael Altmann as to why they like the tours.

Last year, he went in with a specific task: He was looking for answers — and found them — on how to apply texture with groundcovers in a shady area of his Minneapolis garden. Several ajuga, euphorbia and other Hardy Zone 4-friendly plants later, that area in Altmann's Linden Hills garden is thriving.

Showtime

Behind the scenes, garden tour hosts are likely working diligently to get their gardens ready for showtime, with the first tours starting next weekend.

Mary Schier, editor of Northern Gardener magazine, attends five to six tours (that's 40 to 50 gardens) each year for both work and pleasure, venturing as far as Rochester, Brainerd and Duluth.

During a tour a few years back, Schier hosted her own garden at her former home in Northfield and says she's never worked as hard — planting, watering and weeding — as she did that summer to prepare.

Like other tour hosts, she remembers both the excitement and nervousness of opening up her garden to the public.

"You also feel exposed — are people going to like your taste or think it's weird or hokey or whatever?" Schier said.

She now makes a point to express her appreciation at each garden tour stop. In her experience, bantering with tourgoers is the biggest reward.

Hennepin County Master Gardener Mary Yee, a collector of unusual plants, knows garden tours from both sides, too, as host and attendee. If there's any advice she consistently gives to gardeners and tourgoers, it's that the most important thing is to have fun.

"The vast majority will notice your interesting or beautiful plants and ignore the weeds," Yee said.

Looking to try your hand at a garden tour this summer? Here's some additional sage advice:

Check the forecast

If it's hot and sunny, sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen are great ideas. Chance of showers in the forecast? Most garden tours, with the exception of severe weather, will continue as planned — so pack that umbrella.

A tour can include as many as six to eight gardens over a span of six to seven hours. Stay hydrated and wear shoes that can handle slippery walkways or uneven paths and other tricky terrains.

Strategize your route

Some tour organizers will map out suggested routes in their program. When mapping things out yourself, look for clusters where you can park once while viewing several gardens if possible. Allow for food and bathroom breaks. Nearby public facilities are often noted in the programs.

Visit within the appointed hours

As garden hosts will tell you, they're usually prepping right up until showtime. You don't want to catch the host in their pajamas doing last-minute prep — or keep them from a well-deserved nap afterward.

Stay on the grass or designated paths while keeping out of planted areas — and don't pick the flowers (yes, we've seen it happen)! The same goes for not touching yard furniture and decor.

Leave pets at home and wheels outside

Keep bikes and strollers far enough away from garden areas, allowing for traffic to flow.

Take a photo or two

That way you can remember that wonderful variety you want to plant in your own garden — or simply savor the memories of your fun, flower-filled excursion.