For the last 14 years the Cranbrook Garden Club has held Open Garden Day and residents are shown just what is possible when it comes to landscaping. This Sunday people can get a glimpse of six of Cranbrook’s many beautiful gardens, hear two guest speakers and take in a garden inspired art show and sale.

Tickets for Open Garden Day are $10 and are available at Top Crop Garden, Farm & Pet and Lotus Books and include admission to each garden on the tour and the speakers. Last year 300 people experienced Open Garden Day and organizers are hoping even more people come out for the event this year.

Proceeds from the tickets help fund community beautification projects like the downtown Cranbrook hanging baskets, the Cranbrook Public Library landscaping project and the Cranbrook Arches project.

The ticket you purchase for Open Garden Day is a brochure that contains descriptions of each of the six gardens on the tour and comes with a map of Cranbrook that points out each location. Each garden is unique and showcases different design.

One garden features different fruit trees and ornamental grasses, another has a large hedge of Barberry shrubs and ornamental flowering trees, and one even has junipers that have been shaped like bonsai. Some yards feature vegetable gardens in addition to the ornamental plants, one garden was chosen for its architectural elements and another garden is spread over a 3.6-acre area.

Your enjoyment of the gardens will even have a soundtrack as members of the Kootenay Association of Music Performers (KAMP) will provide music in many of the gardens.

There will be an Open Garden Day lunch buffet at Ric’s Lounge & Grill at the Prestige served from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. that is $10.95 per person and while you are at the hotel you can check out the art show and sale, which features many different kinds of art, including wooden furniture, botanical paintings, garden accessory, glasswork, handmade purses, raku pottery and photo cards. The guest speakers will also be at the Prestige

At 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. guest speaker Jim Hole will speak and at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Rachel Beck will make a presentation. Hole’s specialty is explaining what makes plants tick and in addition to writing books, weekly newspaper columns and magazine pieces, he is heard regularly on CBC radio and seen weekly on City TV’s Breakfast Television. Beck is a clinical herbalist and homeopath who teaches and has a private natural healthcare practice. She has expanded her love of herbs to include the producing of herbal cosmetics and soaps and using herbs in culinary delights.

The gardens on the tour are open from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. and those taking the tour are reminded to leave their pets at home and keep children under close supervision. The tour is self-paced and carpooling is encouraged.

Sponsors of the tour are Columbia Basin Trust, the Regional District of East Kootenay, the Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort, Top Crop Garden, Farm & Pet, Cranbrook Sunrise Rotary and Dale Fletcher Photography.