The Gardenfest Tour is 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 26 and will feature nine gardens selected by Brown County master gardeners.

Master Gardner with Brown County Extension Lauren Diggs said this year the number of gardens was expanded from five to nine, but with a few twists. The nine gardens will be located at eight different sites.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Hy-Vee Foods and the Brown County Extension Office. It has been the practice of Brown County master gardeners to keep the name and location of the gardens a secret until the day of the tour, but two were revealed. A complete list of the gardens and their location is printed on each ticket. The ticket is a folded-up map showing the location of each garden.

Diggs said the point of the tour was to feature a wide assortment of gardens. Gardens may feature flowers, vegetables and pollinating plants. Diggs said this tour will even feature a rock garden.

Master Gardner with Brown County Extension Lauren Diggs (left) and Gardenfest tour host Gigi Rysdahl (right) review some of the plants to be featured on this year’s tour.

“We want to show people the variety available to them,” Diggs said. “We want to inspire people and show them possibilities because it can be easy for some to get stuck.”

The first garden on the tour is located on the south side of New Ulm and features a combination of perennials, annuals, shrubs and a small pond surrounded by flowers. The creator of the garden likes to work unique vintage pieces into the green space.

The second stop on the garden tour is a collaborative garden shared by multiple neighbors. The garden started as a project to clean up a lot and gain access to existing grape vines. In addition to gardening together, the neighbors make wine from the garden and can produce together.

The third garden on the tour features a variety of flowers including peonies, bleeding hearts, wild roses, lots of pollinators and plenty of stone. Most of the garden’s pathways are paved with stone. Many of the stones were placed to create Christian symbols. The stones used in the garden were salvaged from the former Hermann Heights retaining wall.

The fourth and fifth gardens on the tour are located on neighboring properties and were included on the tour as compliments to one another. One garden features several flower beds with bleeding hearts and snapdragons. The garden next door is an intricate rock garden. Diggs said Brown County master gardeners wanted to include a rock garden to show the possibilities when creating a garden.

New Ulm’s Pollinator Park will be featured on the tour. It is the only public garden featured on the tour. Recently the city approved the expansion of the pollinator parks.

The sixth garden on the tour belongs to Oak Hills Living Center. For years, the Oak Hills Living Center garden served as a hidden jewel. The garden was previously featured on the 2022 Gardenfest Tour. Recently the garden has expanded to the hillside adjacent to Oak Hills.

Volunteer gardener Gigi Rysdahl has led the charge in developing the hillside. The goal is to add a path, pollinators, shrubs and perennials. The expanded hillside garden also features a newly installed cross. Rysdahl thanked Victor and Wayne Klassen of Klassen Plumbing, Troy Booth of Booth Welding and Rob Beranek of Full Service Electric for helping set up the hillside cross. Rysdahl acknowledged the hillside garden would not be finished in time for the garden tour, but visitors could see the work in progress.

Diggs revealed that the seventh garden on the tour was New Ulm’s Pollinator Park located on North Broadway. It is the only garden on the tour located on public land. Master naturalist, Joe Gartner will serve as the host at the Pollinator Park, providing information and answering questions about the garden site. Diggs said the Pollinator Park was included on this tour to highlight the work being done to promote pollinating species. In addition, the park was recently approved by the City of New Ulm to expand.

The eighth garden is located on the north edge of New Ulm and is described by the owner as shade gardening with many different native and transplanted plants blending together. The garden features around 300 varieties of hostas. A large pond completes the look.

The ninth and final garden on the tour is located outside of New Ulm off Old Fort Road. The garden is titled “A tribute to a healthy life.” The garden features hostas, dahlias, phlox, ranuculus, marigolds, zinnias, cannas, gladiolus, iris, daylilies and wildflowers.

An artificial stream is featured in one of the gardens on the tour.

Each of the nine gardens may be visited in any order, but tickets are required to enter each garden. Proceeds go towards horticultural education programs for youth and adults in the Brown County area. In the event of inclement weather, listen to KNUJ for a rescheduled date.