Green thumbs kept busy in lead-up to Sunday’s garden tour

July 6, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

John Briggs learned a lot at his first job in a greenhouse, earning “35 cents an hour – top dollar!” tending plants and bagging soil – and it instilled in him a love of getting his hands dirty that endures to this day.

Come out this Sunday, July 10, and see the fruits of his labour as Mr. Briggs opens up his garden, along with seven other local gardeners, for Garden Tour 2016 hosted by the Aurora Garden and Horticultural Society.

Featuring eight home gardens total, the owners of these “private paradises” will be on hand to answer all your gardening questions.

Local artists will also be there, painting en plein air and showcasing their works.

By Monday, Mr. Briggs cast his eye over his Copland Trail domain, which features its own greenhouse in which he grows his own annuals, confident most of the hard work was behind him getting the place camera ready for this weekend’s ticketholders.

“It’s a lot of extra work,” he says with a chuckle. “I grow my own annuals and I have to make sure I stake them all nice and straight to make them as nice as possible – and it’s as ready as its going to be! It’s nice to dig in the soil and create something. I’m a photographer, so flowers give me a subject, as well as other things, and it is just fun to try different plans.”

Tickets for this self-guided tour, which takes place rain or shine, are $15 and are on sale now at Caruso & Company, Hillcrest Nurseries (14230 Bathurst Street), and at Black Forest Gardens at 15445 Keele Street in King. Tickets will also be available at the Aurora Farmers’ Market this Saturday, July 10.

For more information, visit www.gardenaurora.com.