PORTLAND – Tucked behind houses and fences, a dozen private gardens on Munjoy Hill were opened to the public Sunday.
More than 400 people, many in straw hats to block the hot sun, wove through the neighborhood’s sidewalks, backyards and alleyways from midmorning until late afternoon.
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Called the Hidden Gardens of Munjoy Hill, the annual self-guided tour was started by a group of women six years ago. For the past two years, it’s been a fundraiser for the Friends of the Eastern Promenade.
The nonprofit park preservation group will use money raised through ticket sales to restore the cannons and bandstand at the promenade’s Fort Allen Park.
At the same time as the garden tour, the Society for East End Arts held a similar tour of the area’s art studios.
“It’s a nice way to highlight what the Hill has to offer, which is a lot,” said Colleen Bedard, chairwoman of the Friends of the Eastern Promenade garden tour committee.
The group hopes to showcase different gardens in each tour and is already compiling a list for next year, Bedard said.
Mark McGarity said organizers started asking him last winter to add his Willis Street garden to the tour.
Next to his house, a shady walkway lined with white impatiens leads to a small cove of flowers, trees and hanging plants. At the back is a porch covered by a canopy of vines.
McGarity’s wife, Jill Atkins, said people on the tour seemed to understand and appreciate their special nook.
“They pick up on the feeling that we treasure,” she said.
At many of the stops, visitors asked questions about specific plants and gardening practices.
Judy Coronios, who started her Gilbert Lane garden 10 years ago, said her strategy is trial and error.
“I’ll plop something in. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, I move it,” she said.
Coronios pointed to the blue hydrangeas she recently dug up and replanted. The flowers added a splash of color to her mostly green garden and grassy lawn.
“It’s a little oasis,” she said.
Emily Magal and Mere Roberts, both of Peaks Island, were about halfway through the tour and had already picked their favorite garden.
On Congress Street, just before the crest of the hill, the garden is a collection of plants that had been damaged and discarded by local nurseries. A gravel pathway weaves around islands of the eclectic plants, including evergreens and azaleas.
Magal said she thought of it as the plant equivalent of an animal shelter.
“They bring them back to life,” Roberts said.
Staff Writer Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at 791-6364 or at:
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