From Our Director...
Happy Independence Day, friends! I hope your celebrations include family, friends, food and libations in a safe, fire-free setting! Municipalities locally and Blaine County have all enacted fireworks bans to help ensure a safe Fourth of July. Please remember to check local fire regulations wherever you happen to be out enjoying the beautiful Sun Valley area - it's best to know before you go!
We had a wildly successful Pride in the Garden event on June 16 thanks to supporters like YOU! Participants enjoyed an evening of entertainment, food and drink as well as local youth Pride Clubs and wonderful speakers. It was one for the books and we'll do it again next year. If you are interested in helping with the event in 2022, hit us up! Read on for more...
Next up is the 26th annual Garden Tour, unique and exciting educational and wellness programming, and, of course, the Garden itself. We are so happy to report that we are welcoming over 500 drop-in visitors per week - an astounding increase over previous years - and folks are in awe at how lovely the Garden looks and feels.
Come experience it for yourself!
~ Jen
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Purchase tickets online here or come to the Sawtooth Botanical Garden during operating hours or purchase over the phone by calling 208-726-9358.
We look forward to seeing YOU!
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Just as the title states, we are showcasing seven outstanding landscapes all within walking distance in Old Town Hailey. In addition to the Tour, we have partnered with the city of Hailey who is celebrating the 25th anniversary of their BCRD Native Plant Arboretum and the new Heritage Tree Program!
Booklets are available throughout the valley at both Visitor Centers, garden centers, bookstores and retail outlets, and of course, right here at SBG!
Tickets are $35 for SBG Members and $40 for non-members. Prices increase by $5 two days before the Tour. "Tickets" again will be in the form of a colorful bandanna. Ticket purchasers' names will be added to a roster that may be found at each of the seven gardens on the day of the Tour and at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden before.
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We have MAPS! At long last, we now have maps available at the Garden that include a beautiful map illustration by Evelyn Phillips and loads of information about SBG. Pick one up inside the Visitor Center or in one of the acrylic holders at the welcome kiosk or front door.
SO many opportunities for all ages and abilities! Click the links for more information:
As always, stay tuned to our website for additional programming and events!
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Those of you who attended the first annual Pride in the Garden event on June 16 were not disappointed! Live music, delicious food, a hosted bar, informational booths, a pro drag show, a stellar Queen of Ceremonies, and personal stories from Carter Hedberg and RL Rowsey left us with full bellies, tired dancing feet, and not a dry eye in the house.
We will do it again! We've already scheduled Pride in the Garden 2022 for June 15 - mark your calendars! As one attendee stated to our executive director, "This event is going to be known as THE summer event not to miss in the WRV!"
Many thanks to the SBG Board of Directors who wholeheartedly supported this event, SBG's Events Committee, staff and volunteers who put it all together, Meghan Myrick (our Queen of Ceremonies), Carter Hedberg and RL Rowsey (our amazing speakers), Justin Buckles Productions and Drag Queens Jayla Rose, Dolce Vida, Alexis Campbell Starr, and Nay Nay Leakes Cartier, Eileen Reiss and At Your Service Catering, Dr. Tom Archie, Henno Heitur and Jason Vontver of Doghaus, NAMI WRV, Pride Clubs from Wood River High and Middle Schools and SV Community School, Press Print House for commemorative shirts (we still have some for sale in our gift shop!), Sawtooth Brewery, Three Peas Bakery, and Eduardo Emanuel Ballesteros and Jesse James Rice for a meditative opening alchemy ceremony.
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Top: The Queens and our Events Committee Chair (and Queen in her own right), Kathie Gouley strike a pose.
Above: Executive Director addresses the supporters
Left: A rapt audience listens to RL Rowsey recount his own upbringing and coming out as a young Southern boy
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PRIDE IN THE GARDEN UNDERWRITERS
Jane Sturdivant
Susan Flynt
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Coming right up... Walk & Wine on August 11, Gimlets in the Garden on September 8, Daffodil Planting Party and a special welcome to our new community members in October! And here's some more good news: New Moon Dinners will once again take place on the new moon dates in November, December, January and February.
Mark your calendars and stay tuned to our website for more information coming soon! |
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If you have visited the Garden lately (and we hope you have!) you may have noticed some changes... our re-design of the Serenity Garden area of the Garden of Infinite Compassion is nearing completion. Thanks to generous donors the Nalen Family Foundation (Skip & Kim Nalen), Susan Thurston, The Roy A. Hunt Foundation, and Anne Dawson and contractors and corporate sponsors Webb Landscape and Mountain High Landscapes and plant donors Whitehead's Landscaping and Hollyberry Nursery, visitors to the GIC will soon be able to enjoy grassy areas, many more and varied plants and contemplative areas at the beginning to the loop trail though the GIC. Come check it out!
Many thanks to Squash Blossom Farm for once again donating many wonderful veggie starts for our veggie gardens! Starts will be planted soon and then produce will be donated to The Hunger Coalition when fall harvest time comes! Huge thanks to Sara and Ed (and Kate for the delivery!).
Good things are happening at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden thanks to YOU!!
Thank you!
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