Just a week after the summer solstice, the Coeur d'Alene Garden Club Garden Tour will open the doors to local plant and garden afficionados to go on self-guided tours of locations lush with flora and decoration. 

Club President Jill Marfice said she and other organizers are always searching for new gardens to feature that inspire and excite gardeners.  

“Each one is different and highlights the most remarkable gardens in our community with a really great quality,” Marfice said. 

The Press was permitted a sneak preview of Connie Ashby’s garden before it officially opens to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the tour Sunday in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden gardens.   

“We look for something that catches your eye. There’s beautiful art like Connie has and there’s great plant selection for those plantaholics like myself who like the science of gardening. Everything goes, we like to see it all,” Marfice said. 

Coeur d'Alene Garden Club Garden Tour Chair Judy Feldner said they wanted to focus on gardens with some kind of element of giving back. 

“You can tell it’s an artist’s garden,” Feldner said. “This garden gives back Connie’s heart through all her whimsical artwork that she’s created as well as this sanctuary for herself. It’s beautiful to be around.” 

Funds raised through the event support nonprofits, churches and schools that have a horticultural need, Feldner said.  

“The Garden Tour started out just to admire gardens in the community and from there, it’s evolved to a fundraiser,” Feldner said. "We like to highlight gardens for the gardener so people can get ideas and get inspired for what they can do for their own garden, whether that means they hire a landscape designer or they’re able to do it themselves.”  

Organizations seeking funding can apply through the club’s website at cdagardenclub.com.  

Through the funds raised, agencies have been able to buy new equipment for community gardens and help seniors reconnect with gardening through raised beds they can better access. In school horticulture projects, students get to learn about the science of growing things. 

As a new stop in this year’s tour, Ashby’s home garden is full of colorful characters interacting among the foliage.   

“When I moved to this house, it was flat dirt and I just had a vision with my palette to paint, but I had no knowledge of plants or trees or what can survive in the area,” Ashby said. 

Since then, she’s worked with Dianna Decker of Diggin My Designs to shape the reality from the dream she had for how to use her backyard to create a fulfilling garden to relax in. 

“Dianna was able to make my vision come true. Otherwise, I know I would just be throwing money away,” Ashby said. “I like flowers and in picking out the various plants, I have flowers that bloom all seasons. I can’t take credit, there’s my designer. I’ve had a lot of fun adding the whimsical side of it.”

The two built out the space based on Ashby's preferences and Decker’s know-how on what will last, avoiding thorny plants and higher-maintenance flora. 

"We like very unique plant material. We were able to do pretty much whatever we wanted, we didn’t have a budget, which is fabulous for me,” Decker said. “This is our fifth year, I walk the yard at least once a year and we talk about changing something here or there or if something doesn’t work, putting something in.” 

Ashby noted that when she was first approached about hosting a stop on the tour, she through it would only be about 200 people. In the past few years, however, attendance has totaled between 800 to 1,000 people. 

Last year, the Garden Tour brought in more than $30,000. 

Another stop on the tour is a commercial flower farm with five generations of family living and working there and another is Shared Harvest. 

Vendors with be present along the six locations Sunday during the self-guided tour. Tickets cost $20. 

Marfice said the club also has plans to begin a botanical garden.

“Three years ago, we established an endowment fund to get a botanical garden started here,” Marfice said. “Instead of just dreaming about it and talking about it, we decided to set it as a goal. We've started our campaign and we’re looking for land.” 

    Connie Ashby likes to bring whimsy into her painted designs for her garden and she shed.
  

    A white horse is positioned to ride through Connie Ashby's backyard in Hayden. Ashby's home is one of six stops on the Garden tour this year, which takes place on June 28.