{"id":33168,"date":"2023-06-15T19:43:48","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T23:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=33168"},"modified":"2023-06-15T19:43:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T23:43:50","slug":"gardeners-set-to-open-their-gates-to-visitors-at-annual-garden-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/gardeners-set-to-open-their-gates-to-visitors-at-annual-garden-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardeners set to open their gates to visitors at annual Garden Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lisa and Art Otsu have always had a passion for forests and wilderness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are two elements in relatively short supply in Aurora these days, but they\u2019re living their dream on Temperance Street, just beyond a fairy garden which has become something of a neighbourhood landmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Otsus\u2019 garden, including Lisa\u2019s Neverland of Fairies, is just one of seven gardens set to be explored during the Annual Garden Tour hosted by the Aurora Garden & Horticultural Society (Garden Aurora) on Sunday, June 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their beautiful greenspace, shaded by a giant black walnut tree and boasting themed sheds, including one dedicated to the art of Maud Lewis, brings to the table the originality of its creators, who have been cultivating the space since 1988.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a perfect canvas for everything we wanted,\u201d says Lisa. \u201cAt first, it was more precision planting, then we just thought, what do we really love? The truth is absolute wilderness, forests, and it just gives us a nice feeling of privacy and home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That love of wilderness was instilled in Lisa by her Glasgow, Scotland-born mother who took pride in her wildflowers and would often be found \u201cbent over in the garden because that\u2019s what she did until her dying day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art\u2019s inspiration, however, came from visits to estates where long winding driveways through greenery would eventually lead to a house popping up on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not happening here,\u201d he says with a laugh, \u201cbut it\u2019s something we can do in our backyard!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to beautiful flowers and plants populating the garden, the space is replete with what they describe as \u201cfound art\u201d that has been expertly incorporated into the overall landscape. Some pieces might only be found if you go in for a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Otsus\u2019 garden was selected by Garden Aurora for this year\u2019s tour first for its curb appeal where their fairies and lending library are eye-catching and frequented by neighbours of all ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garden Aurora\u2019s Judy Ryan says theirs and the gardens of other selected participants \u201care all different and they\u2019re different for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot every garden appeals to the same person, but what our visitors are going to do is come here and see what\u2019s achievable and that\u2019s our primary focus \u2013 all the gardens are different, with different tastes, all done by the gardeners,\u201d says Ryan. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for gardeners who can inspire visitors to create their own bit of heaven, and that\u2019s what our gardens are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA garden that is complete front and back is probably the biggest challenge because sometimes the front yards aren\u2019t special or different while the back yard is spectacular. We often have to go on our gut instinct, but this garden is the whole package \u2013 and the gardeners have personality!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garden Aurora carefully curates their featured gardens so each year offers something different. In most cases, once a garden has taken part it\u2019s not invited back for at least 10 years. This year\u2019s crop, purely by chance, is mostly in the Town\u2019s historic downtown area, a community typified by old growth trees and large lots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe big thing about this neighbourhood is all the black walnuts,\u201d says Ryan. \u201cIf you\u2019re in the gardening world or a gardener, people will say, \u2018I can\u2019t grow anything under a black walnut,\u2019 and the gardens in this neighbourhood are proof that you can. Having new gardens can be a big inspiration to people who are just starting out and don\u2019t have land. You can have a small piece of property and you can garden in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2023 Garden Tour is self-guided and takes place Sunday, June 25, from 12 noon to 4.30 p.m. rain or shine. Tickets are $15 and are available at New Roots Garden Centre, Wild Birds Unlimited \u2013 Newmarket, Paradise Flower Boutique \u2013 Aurora, Luda Flower Salon \u2013 Aurora, Petal Me Sugar Florist \u2013 Aurora, Replenish General Store, the Aurora Farmers\u2019 Market on June 17 and June 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Same day tickets will be available at the first garden on the tour located at 6 Bolsby Court, Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more, visit gardenaurora.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lisa and Art Otsu have always had a passion for forests and wilderness. These are two elements in relatively short supply in Aurora these days, but they\u2019re living their dream on Temperance Street, just beyond a fairy garden which has become something of a neighbourhood landmark. The Otsus\u2019 garden, including Lisa\u2019s Neverland of Fairies, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-06-15-04.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8CY","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 09:44:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}