Garden Rhapsodies Tour 2009

Another successful Garden Rhapsodies Tour was held on July 25. Seven unique gardens which included an organic country garden, a garden designed for minimal maintenance and a water conserving garden. Volunteers were on hand to answer questions and made sure visitors left the tour with ideas and strategies to use in their own landscapes.

Garden Rhapsodies Tour 2008

Another successful Garden Rhapsodies Tour was held on July 26. Six unique gardens, each with something to teach, were featured. Demonstrations included watering for conservation, tough-to-deal-with weeds, and composting for all situations. Volunteers were on hand to answer questions and made sure visitors left the tour with ideas and strategies to use in their own landscapes. As always, musicians added rhapsody to the day while artists captured beautiful moments.

Garden Rhapsodies is sponsored by Thurston County, WSU Cooperative Extension Native Plant Salvage Project, WSU Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Foundation, Olympia Symphony Guild, and the City of Olympia.

Previous Garden Tours

For additional tour information, see Interviews and Plant Lists.

Garden Rhapsodies Tour 2007

The 2007 garden tour featured eight fabulous gardens, including a GRuB demonstration garden and an estate garden right out of a magazine.

Garden Rhapsodies Tour 2006

The 2006 Garden Rhapsodies Tour inspired nearly 600 people to care for their gardens using less-toxic techniques, such as close plant spacing, mulching, composting for healthy soil, and dealing with pests using traps and less toxic pesticides.

Demonstrations, displays, Master Gardeners, and plenty of take home information was available to help people care for and maintain their yards using Common Sense Gardening and/or Integrated Pest Management.

Garden Rhapsodies Tour 2005

Another wonderful Garden Tour! Over 700 community members learned about Common Sense Gardening at this year’s Garden Rhapsodies Tour on the last Saturday of July. Host gardeners from eight beautiful, non-toxic yards opened up their garden gates and invited people to be inspired! The Olympia Symphony orchestrated musicians for many of the gardens, artists captured moments of wonder, and over two hundred volunteers worked together to create a Garden Rhapsodies Tour that focused in one west Olympia neighborhood. Demonstrations on worm composting, yard waste composting, tool sharpening, and tree care kept everyone learning throughout the day.

Garden Rhapsodies Tour 2004

Nearly 600 people enjoyed a beautiful summer day in the gardens learning about common sense gardening techniques and serenaded by wonderful musicians and artists.