BEND, Ore. — Gardening in the High Desert has long been thought to be difficult if not near-impossible. Kathy Gault says that’s a misconception.
“When I first moved here, one of my neighbors saw me out digging and said ‘What are you doing?’ and I said ‘I’m gonna plant a garden,’ and he said ‘Nothing grows here, you’re wasting your time. I thought ‘I’m going to prove him wrong,'” Gault said.
Gault and several other Bend homeowners are doing just that as they partake in the 30th annual High Desert Garden Tour.
“What I would say is that our climate is very unique and we have some limiting factor that don’t effect other places and you just have to take those into account and adapt. One of the best ways to do that is to grow things that are native here,” Gault said.
The tour is self-guided, featuring six different gardens throughout the Bend area.
The tour is perfect for anyone who just wants to literally stop and smell the roses and those who are looking to blossom creativity.
“The idea is just to share garden inspiration. So you can take the inspiration you see with these homes and take a piece of that and hopefully implement it,” horticulturist Amy Jo Detweiler said.
Gardens are selected by the Oregon State Master Gardener program.
“They came out last year, and looked over the garden and said ‘we’re looking at a number of gardens around the area, we’ll reach back out when we’re done looking. Come months later they reached back out and said they’d love to have our garden on the tour,” gardener Greg Hoard said.
Homeowners who were selected for the tour open their backyards to the public.
“I love my garden. I spend a lot of time out here and I get a lot of joy. I thought I’d share that with other people and give them ideas,” Gault said.
The tour is on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tickets can be bought for $15 in Alpenglow Park on Saturday or online here. People 18 years or younger can join the tour for free.