SARATOGA SPRINGS - Each summer a select number of lush and distinctively designed gardens throughout Saratoga Springs open their proverbial doors for a Secret Gardens Tour.
Hosted by Soroptimist International of Saratoga County, the tour — this year set for Sunday, July 14 — offers a look into nearly a dozen gardens around the area, including an English-style garden and pollinator gardens, as well as herb and cut-flower gardens.
The event is a fundraiser for Soroptimist, a nonprofit that started locally in 1979 and is part of a more than 100-year-old international organization whose mission is to improve the lives of women, girls and their communities.
Proceeds from the tour will be donated to Project Hope and Power, a program that partners with Wellspring to help domestic violence victims in Saratoga County obtain financial and legal independence. The funds will also go toward scholarships for women and girls seeking to further their education.
Next month, just ahead of Mother’s Day, there will be a Secret Gardens Kick-Off Garden Party at Sunnyside Gardens. Slated to run from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, May 9, there will be wine and food, raffle baskets and music from Phil Drum.
Sunnyside will donate a portion of proceeds from sales during the two-hour event, including the purchase of gift cards, to Soroptimist International of Saratoga County.
The kickoff event has become a tradition over the past few years and often brings in several hundred attendees.
Photos by Behoff Photo. Shoppers at the 2023 Secret Garden Tour Kick-off party at Sunnyside Gardens in Saratoga Springs.
“It’s a nice evening out to bring your mother or buy something for your mother,” said Barbara Lombardo, one of the organizers of this year’s tour and a member of Soroptimist.
It’s the only night Sunnyside is open in the evening.
It’s also a way for people to support a local cause and get a jump on their gardening.
“If [people] want to get their herb gardens out there, if they’re daring enough to start some hanging plants or things that they can put inside,” Lombardo said. “But if they can’t decide they can always buy a gift certificate.”
Photos by Behoff Photo. Sunnyside Gardens in Saratoga Springs, which hosts the Secret Garden Tour Kick-off party.
Tickets for the tour will be available in May, both online and in select stores.
“The Secret Gardens Tour and by extension, this Garden Tour Kick-off Party are the club’s only fundraisers for the year,” Lombardo said. “The funds we raise through ticket sales, sponsorships and Sunnyside are what we have to fund the programs that we support.”
For information, visit soroptimistsaratoga.org or email secretgardesninfo@gmail.com.
Photos by Behoff Photo. Shoppers at the 2023 Secret Gardens Tour Kick-off party at Sunnyside Gardens in Saratoga Springs.
Photo by Behoff Photo. Sunnyside Gardens in Saratoga Springs.
Photo by Behoff Photo. Shoppers at the 2023 Secret Garden Tour Kick-off party at Sunnyside Gardens in Saratoga Springs.