Mountain Blooms Garden Tours

Please don't visit gardens outside of the posted event hours, including showing early or staying late. If you need to use a restroom, please use the public bathrooms in town at the Lyons Visitors Center in Sandstone Park. Try not to block prime spots in the garden when you’re not actively using them. Certainly take your turn to enjoy the view and/or take photographs, but move to the side to let others enjoy the spot, too. Please leave your dog (and any other pets) at home. Your pet may be well behaved but the homeowner’s pets might resent their presence in the garden. Look but don’t touch. If you have children with you this rule applies to them too - please teach them that when they’re visiting other people’s gardens they’re not to pull off leaves or stems, pick flowers, or dig in the garden beds. Don’t take any plants or cuttings home with you unless the homeowner explicitly offers them to you. Stay within designated walking areas–follow garden paths and use stepping stones within planted areas, where provided. Avoid stepping into garden beds for a closer look or photo–you don’t know if there’s something planted in that spot under your foot that looks like bare soil to you. The homeowner’s patio furniture is not a picnic area. Don’t eat your lunch in homeowner’s gardens. Respect the homeowner’s wishes regarding allowing bicycles or strollers into the garden. When in doubt, presume that bulky items should be left to the side or on the driveway. Be conscious that neighbours of the garden on the tour have not chosen to open up their yards for the tour–stay on the tour participant’s property and don’t block neighbouring driveways. Be generous with your praise and remember that old adage of “if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything.” We all have different ideas of what makes a garden fabulous and we all have different amounts of time and other resources to devote to gardening.