It was another sell-out year for the popular Edmonds in Bloom Garden Tour, as the owners of some of Edmonds’ most beautiful home gardens opened their grounds to hundreds of ticket holders for a “behind the scenes” look. The garden hosts were on hand the entire time to answer questions and provide tips on how their designs came together, and each garden featured live musicians and artists creating plein air works inspired by the garden.

This was the 27th year of the event, which draws visitors to Edmonds from throughout the region.

“This year we featured 12 gardens,” explained Edmonds in Bloom president Carol Murray. “In past years we were careful to limit the number of gardens to help control visitors’ travel time moving from one to another, but this year we had an amazing opportunity that allowed us to give our visitors more bang for the buck!”

That opportunity came from a group of seven neighbors, all avid gardeners, whose homes are clustered in the same cul-de-sac. They all pitched in, helped each other, and by garden tour day their little corner of Edmonds was ready to welcome visitors.

“Another innovation this year came with the opportunity to include student musicians as part of the event,” explained Murray. “The idea came from some tour committee members who approached Edmonds-Woodway High School to see if this could be made to happen — and happily it did!”

This year the students played at two locations – the cul-de-sac being one – beginning their performance after the regular musicians completed their shift and extending the musical entertainment into the late afternoon.

Funds raised from the annual garden tour support the work of Edmonds in Bloom, which includes scholarships, school gardens, and numerous beautification projects around town. Learn more about Edmonds in Bloom at their website here.

— Story and photos by Larry Vogel