Gardeners and growers across Vashon Island have been tilling, pruning, and prepping all year for the annual Vashon Garden Tour, set to take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22.
For the last 34 years, the tour has helped raise funds to sustain the nonprofit work of Vashon Center for the Arts as the organization works to grow the arts on Vashon and cultivate the artists of tomorrow.
The island boasts some of the Northwest’s finest private gardens, organic farms and natural oases. And for these two days in June, the proud and passionate owners of six local sites will grant exclusive access to ticket-holders, welcoming them to stroll through masterful designs, marvel at colorful blooms and sample edible harvests.
The tour begins at its home base at VCA, where tour-goers can pick up a map and find restrooms, enjoy food and refreshments, and purchase raffle tickets to win garden prizes. The VCA Gallery will also boast to “The Secret Garden,” an exhibition including the botanical art of Jean Emmons and an immersive installation of outdoor art and sculpture by local artists.
Emmons will present a free, informal painting demonstration and talk about her work, from 12 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 22.
At VCA, tour-goers can also stroll through the Heron Meadow, VCA’s protected wetland, co-stewarded with Vashon Nature Center, before setting off to explore the gardens featured on the tour.
Madrona Meadows
Madrona Meadows is the idyllic and pastoral property of Sue and Scott DeNies. It includes a bountiful vegetable garden, blooming flowerbeds, and a French country-style post-and-beam barn. Visitors can walk a wooded trail through native madrones, Douglas firs and salal, and rest on a quiet bench while soaking in the surroundings. A great bird-watching spot, this garden also includes a serene pond surrounded by mature forest and plenty of wildlife.
BrambleByrne
A tranquil Cascade Mountain pond, tumbling waterfall, and meandering rock river blend with contrasting Salish driftwood and Southwest desert gardens in the park-like setting of Mike and Brigitte Brown’s BrambleByrne.
Once a chicken and cattle farm, the property now serves as a nonprofit ruminant rescue. The Browns have transformed their pastures into a peaceful retreat combining native and non-native gardens with whimsical art and treasures from Granny’s Attic. Their guests can mingle with a small herd of goats, forage for fruits and vegetables, pick flowers, curl up with a good book, or watch the sunset by the pond. Garden tour visitors are welcome to play a round of croquet, complete a treasure hunt or feed the goats.
The garden of Dustin Schulte and Alan Rose
The garden of Alan Rose and Dustin Schulte is a plant collector’s/garden designer’s dream.
The 2 acre garden has been a labor of love for Rose and Schulte for the last 10 years, with a significant expansion and hardscaping improvements completed in 2024. Plants range from rare rhododendrons and ferns to kniphofias and grasses. Together, they have transformed a sunny island property into a lush tapestry and showcase of plants reminiscent of a Rousseau painting.
The garden of Mary Liz Austin
Hidden in plain sight on Morgan Hill, Mary Liz Austin’s garden is a portal to a verdant knoll filled with a variety of sun-loving perennials, a mix of grasses, and whimsical garden art. The garden is a window into the heart of its creator: an artist who transforms the ordinary into the exceptional through the alchemy of hard work, imagination and the love of nature.
Littlest Bird Farm
Littlest Bird Farm, once the Zarth farm, is now owned by Kim Kambak, who continues to honor the Coast Salish People’s stewardship of the land.
Kim raises poultry, sheep, pork, blueberries, flowers, and vegetables on this 5.7 acre land, where she has planted over 100 native shrubs and bushes. Integrating various types of compost specific to the plant’s needs is part of the farm plan. “I hope to leave this soil healthy and productive for future generations,” she said.
Aeggy’s Farm
Aeggy’s Farm is a small, multi-generational family farm with a greenhouse, two cultivated acres of fruit and vegetables, and 120 laying hens who are the secret to the farm’s signature egg sandwiches sold at the Vashon Farmers Market.
Aeggy’s Farm practices regenerative farming, rotating their chickens to allow them to forage, cultivate, and fertilize the land. This property is also a gardener’s paradise, with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, and, of course, flowers, including dahlias, sunflowers, zinnias, and peonies. Step up to Aeggy’s farmstand to take home the flowers from the farm and purchase fresh eggs, produce, and fruit. Aeggy’s farmers will also cook up hot prepared dishes, straight from the garden, on both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Find out more and purchase tickets to the Garden Tour, presented by Winderemere Vashon and Beth de Groen, at vashongardentour.org.
