New festival site anchor for tour

Published 7:00 pm Saturday, July 2, 2005

Food, art fair, plant sales and lectures by garden experts at tour.

The island is ablaze with beautiful blossoms and flower fanciers won’t have to search hard to find the best of the bunch.

The 17th annual Bloom Garden Tour, July 8-10, will provide free shuttle buses for ticket holders from the new festival site at Bainbridge High School to each of the five private gardens.

The tour benefits the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council. Last year’s event raised more than $100,000.

The Festival Site and Shuttle Hub is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The Garden Tour is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

“There’s a lot of variety to this year’s gardens,” said Karen McCarthy, tour coordinator. “People want to see one or two formal gardens and they want to see what’s real.”

Throughout each day, air-conditioned Kitsap Transit shuttles will meet designated Seattle-to-Bainbridge ferries and bring tour-goers to the festival site, which will feature an art fair, plant sale, lectures on gardening trends by noted area garden specialists – including Ciscoe Morris, Barbara Denk, John van den Meerendonk, Phil Wood, Sue Thompson and Lorene Edwards Forkner – an information booth and food court.

From there, the shuttles will head to the gardens and make return runs to the ferry terminal. Shuttle hosts will point out scenes of interest along the way.

Visitors who drive will find ample parking in lots around Bainbridge High, located at High School Road and Madison Avenue.

Tour tickets provide detailed parking maps. All visitors must take a shuttle bus to the garden sites, unless they ride their bicycles.

The new “Bike the Bloom” option provides free-wheeling visitors with a tour map, secure bicycle parking, a reduced ticket price and portable food choices. They must first check in at the festival site to get their maps.

Those who wish to view the gardens in a more intimate setting may take advantage of Private Preview Tour & Garden Party options, which take place noon to 9 p.m. on Friday, July 8:

* Garden Enthusiast – $125; A self-guided tour of the gardens and Bloedel Reserve, a 2005 garden tour poster, unlimited visits to the gardens on Saturday and Sunday and complimentary refreshments

* Patron – $175; All Garden Enthusiast amenities, plus a garden dinner party with wine on the front lawn at Bloedel Reserve

* Benefactor – $350; All Patron benefits, a guided tour of the five gardens with Seattle garden designer Lorene Edwards Forkner and lunch at a secret sixth garden. Reservations are limited.

Regular admission prices are $30 for adults and $15 for children ages 4 to 12. “Bike the Bloom” tickets are $20 for adults.

On Saturday and Sunday, à la carte items will be available in the food court.

All tickets are available online at www.gardentour.info; by phone at 206-219-3182 or at local garden stores and nurseries on Bainbridge.

To find out when the guest speakers will appear, visit www.gardentour.info or call 842-7901.