On the 2009 tour we had a mix of new and returning properties. The marvellous garden of Jimmy Tait with the amazing azeleas returned and she held a plant sale you should not have missed. Toby & Mikell Callahan's exquisite home and garden returned along with the fascinating beachfront home and gardens of Gale & Judy Stephen. Also returning in 2009 was Veronica Timmons and Jack Mounce & Jean Cockburn's places.

The shoreside home of Tobey & Mikell Calahan.
Photo by Mikell

Woodland Gardens at Judy and Gale Stephen's place by the sea
Photo by Mikell

Judy and Gale Stephen's hand-built post and beam home
Photo by Mikell

Jean Cockburn and Jack Mounce's garden nestled in the trees above the beach
Photo by Jean

New to the tour in 2009 were several stunning properties that appeal to a range of tastes and styles. Susan-Marie & Yoshi Yoshihara showed their ever-expanding vegetable garden and intriguing Japanese influenced home. They recently added a rockery with edible landscaping to complement the stepping stones that go down into the pond. Nearby Andrew Fyson & Robert Newton demonstrated their sustainable homegarden and their strong interest in preserving Nature around their rustic log home and elsewhere on Denman Island. For the first time the renowned Denman Island Chocolate Factory was open on the Tour. As well as the chocolate-making operation, the view from the bluff was appreciated and the Conservation Covenant area that protects the rare plants was identified.

Photo by Susan-marie

The garden blends into the woods at Susan-Marie & Yoshi's place.

Walking up Jimmy Tait's driveway in spring and looking to the left into her garden is sheer delight. Very early come the aconites, the snowdrops and the crocuses. Next to appear are the pale yellow species primroses, brought from England years ago, the tulips and daffodils, the pulmonaria (lung wort)and the erythronium (fawn lily). By the time of the Home and Garden Tour on Mother's Day weekend one could see a rainbow of azaleas, welsh poppies, alliums and bluebells.

Photo by Andrew Fyson

Jimmy's country garden overflows with its spring bounty.

In addition to the 9 homes on the Tour in 2009, and the Chocolate Factory we invited visitors to see our newly acquired Central Park, and Winter Wren Wood - our lakeside property. Both properties are owned by the Denman Conservancy and are supported directly by proceeds from the tour.

Proceeds from this event benefited the Denman Conservancy Association for its Central Park Acquisition Project.

Delicious homemade lunches and desserts were available at the Community Hall

Denman Island is reached by ferry from Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island, about an hour’s drive north of Nanaimo. For this special weekend, the ferry shuttles back and forth as necessary. Car pooling is encouraged.

For the 18th time, this fund-raising tour offered a peek into private homes and gardens on pastoral Denman Island and conversation with specialty gardeners, horticultural aficionados, and plain ordinary folks who have an artist’s eye and a green thumb.

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May 9th and 10th 2009 was our 18th Garden Tour

Read more on the 2009 garden tour
Back to the --Garden Tour Entry Page
and do visit --Denman Conservancy site

this site maintained by John Millen (millenj@telus.net) updated 19 April 2010