Jan Panosky’s North Stonington garden has many distinctions.
Not only does it feature a moon garden — which emphasizes white and variegated plants for nighttime viewing — a cutting garden, a woodland garden and several lawn alternatives — like a native wildflower meadow and an area with native sedges — it is on the North Stonington Pollinator Pathway and is the only Connecticut garden on this year’s 12th Gardening with the Masters Tour.
In addition to Panosky’s garden, this year’s tours include gardens from Wilcox Park to Chepachet to Charlestown … and even a castle.
The historic gardens at Smith’s Castle, operated by the Cocumscussoc Association in North Kingstown, are joining the garden tour for the first time.
Cocumscussoc is part of the ancestral homeland of the Narragansett, and was a trading post established by Roger Williams and Richard Smith in the late 1630s. Nestled among the cattails, Smith’s Castle, built in 1678, is the oldest surviving plantation house in America.
A biennial event hosted by URI Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener Program, the tour will take place — rain or shine — Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20, from 10-4 p.m.
The two-day event will share some of the state’s most beautiful public and private gardens, according to a statement from the university, which are tended by certified URI Master Gardener volunteers.
Also on display will be environmentally-friendly garden practices including composting, native plant pollinator gardens, low-input vegetable growing, small-space and container gardening.
First-time tour host Lindsay Robinson — who said this year’s garden tour showcases the abundant diversity found across the state — has a tiny urban gem of a garden in Providence, near Roger Williams Park. Her garden, she said, “highlights the wonder and beauty that can be cultivated in a small space.”
Certified as a National Wildlife Habitat since 2023, her yard hosts a variety of pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. A URI Master Gardener tour years ago let her see how others solved yard problems, giving her ideas that she was then able to apply at home, she said.
Having a small city space is no barrier to gardening, she added.
“You can do a lot for yourself and wildlife in a small space,” she said. “Having limitations also forces you to keep learning and be creative.”
Tour goers will also get to visit the Roger Williams Park Produce Donation Garden, which produces fresh produce for donation to local food pantries and kitchens. With more than 15 raised beds and grow bins, the pesticide-free garden grows more than 5,000 pounds (2.5 tons) of produce to donate each year.
Karen Lambe of Chepachet is looking forward to welcoming visitors to her property again this year. A Class of 2009 Master Gardener, this will be her fourth year opening her property to guests. More than 500 people visited her one-acre garden plot during the last tour.
A retired educator, Lambe said she loves the chance to talk to other garden enthusiasts, whether experienced or novice.
“It’s such a great opportunity to get all your gardening questions answered,” she said. “We offer lots of resources and the variety of gardens on the tour is really impressive. These are real-life gardens tended by regular people who just love to garden.”
The university is also opening its own gardens for the tour.
At URI’s Kingston campus, visitors can explore the University’s Square Foot Vegetable Garden at the Kathleen M. Mallon Outreach Center in Kingston. Five years ago, the garden’s raised beds sat unused, except for a small area that a graduate student and his family were attempting to grow vegetables in. A URI Master Gardener volunteer noticed their efforts and offered to mentor the future gardeners using the square-foot gardening method. After a successful partnership and multiple harvests, that first family moved on to Kansas (where they continue to grow vegetables in a community garden), making room for new families of URI graduate students to begin growing.
This garden is located within the URI Botanical Gardens, which visitors are welcome to stroll through after visiting the demonstration garden.
The garden tour is hosted by URI Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener Program, which trains garden enthusiasts of all levels in environmentally-friendly, science-based horticulture practices, and curates volunteer opportunities for them throughout the state. Tour proceeds benefit the educational services offered through the URI Master Gardener Program, including the gardening and environmental hotline (401-874-4836 / gardener@uri.edu) available for inquiries all year-round.
With the hopes of inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards and gardeners, admission is free for youth under 18 when accompanied by an adult.
Tickets for the tour cost $30 each and include admission for one to all gardens on both tour days. More information at the URI Cooperative Extension website, email coopext@uri.edu or call 401-874-2900.