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Garden gates and tall hedges hide some of Jasper鈥檚 most beautiful secrets.
And last weekend, green-fingered Jasperites revealed their hidden wonders for the annual Secret Garden Tour July 26.
It was a rainy Saturday, but that did not stop the curious people keen to see what our gardeners had to offer.
鈥淲e were happy people went and the gardeners I spoke to were ok with it,鈥� said Angie Thom, director of library services. 鈥淭hey are gardeners, they are used to having to bow to Mother Nature.鈥�
The Secret Garden Tour is a fundraiser put on by the Friends of the Library Society.
鈥淲e try to hopefully inspire people to look to outside as an activity.鈥�
The six gardens open this year were hosted by Elisabeth and Edi Klopfenstein, Lynda and Grey Key, Lydia and Getty Edwards, Vicky Gulevich, Charlie Finley and Clare Everest.
Thom said they reduced the number of gardens this year as feedback from visitors said they didn鈥檛 want to feel rushed and wanted the opportunity to have more in-depth conversations with the gardeners.
Some gardens were new to the line-up and others were repeat bookings.
鈥淭he gardeners do this as a labour of love, whether vegetables or whatever and we try to have some gardens that have only been in once or twice,鈥� Thom said. 鈥淭his has been running so long the gardens change over time and gardeners change over time and we are trying to give people a chance to watch a garden develop.鈥�
One of those that has developed is Elisabeth Klopfenstein鈥檚 Geikie Street garden. She has been working on it for 30 years and last took part in the Secret Garden Tour 10 years ago.
鈥淭hey like the variety,鈥� Klopfenstein said. 鈥淢ine is a vegetable garden and more people have more of a flower garden.鈥�
Klopfenstein grows carrots, broccoli, lettuce, sprouts, cabbage and more.
鈥淲e eat everything we plant,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ith the high beds you can sit and read, they keep in the warm and everything grows good.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not big but the grandkids come over and pull the carrots.鈥�
And Lydia Edwards鈥� garden showcased not just her gardening talents but her creativity too.
Thom said: 鈥淟ydia is very artistic she does artisan crafts and had some of her wares out for sale. It just highlighted how well her work went with her garden.鈥�
