A Maudern Garden Tour

By Barbara Pratt

UXBRIDGE: What could be better than a summer day spent in beautiful gardens! Tickets are on sale for the 29th Annual Gardens of Uxbridge, on Saturday, June 21st.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables, said, “We have been gardening furiously […] and I am besottedly happy in it.” An avid gardener, while she lived in the Manse in Leaskdale Maud created flower beds, a rose arbour and vegetable gardens.

This year, eight spectacular gardens will be opened to the public, all of which have been cultivated and loved by their owners, who have no doubt been “gardening furiously.” The gardens are on show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., allowing plenty of time to ramble through and admire the brimming flower beds, shady trees and lawns. You might see new and different plants and plant combinations, and get ideas for walkways, water features, garden ornaments, and native plantings.

Artists will be in the gardens with paintings and sculptures on display.

A town property is being dedicated to native gardening, with new additions of native flowering plants, shrubs and grasses. A country garden showcases an enormous collection of trees and shrubs. Four unique urban gardens in town are hidden oases of colourful blooms, shady paths and quiet corners.

All proceeds from the tour go to The Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario which maintains the National Historic Site, in Leaskdale, home of L.M. Montgomery from 1911 to 1926.

The Lucy Maud Montgomery Society will be serving their signature tea and scones at Shobrook Gardens, in Uxbridge, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., during the garden tour.

Tickets are available, in advance, online, at www.gardensofuxbridge.org for $25 per person. The ticket includes a map of the gardens, plus a wristband for entry into each garden.