Note: Most photos were taken at various 2024 WIGT locations by David Welton.
Originating in 1996, the popular Whidbey Island Garden Tour was created to pay legal fees associated with saving Langley’s Saratoga Woods from development as an all-inclusive resort. After some tense times and much hard work, the 188-acre forested property finally became a permanently protected preserve in 2001. Since then, the WIGT has raised more than $550,000 in its 28 years of operation.
Tour ticket sales allow the nonprofit to continue funding causes that promote conservation of our environment through restoration, beautification and education for stewardship of our shared habitat.
Sarah Birger has served as WIGT’s president the past two years. She’s been engaged with the annual garden tour since 2004 as a way to share her passion for the many creative ways that people interact with the natural and built world.
“So many people have moved here because they recognize at a visceral level how good it feels to live on Whidbey,” Birger said. “The tour offers opportunities every year to drive down rural roads and explore all the beauty that our neighbors have co-created.”
Birger applauds islanders’ can-do spirit of raising funds by hosting well-attended events such as the garden tour.
“Isn’t that great?” she asked. “Instead of complaining, we do something. That is the Whidbey Island way. Neighbors are helping neighbors by opening up their private homesteads, and inviting people in to see all the different ways that gardening takes place. I’m so darn passionate about the topic—locals helping locals.”
Birger is married to Matthew Swett, and their business Taproot Architects focuses on regenerative and ecological design. Matthew serves on the board of Hearts & Hammers, a non-profit which helps repair and rehab homes and yards of folks needing a hand up. He commented on the mutual benefits of businesses, non-profits and volunteers cooperating with one another to serve community needs.
“It’s so much more fulfilling,” he said. “You can use the word ‘co-op-etition’–it’s a plus-sum strategy that combines cooperation and competition to work together to achieve mutual benefits. As a small business, it takes so long to learn the ins and outs. Why not share with each other and benefit from each other’s knowledge? This is one of the reasons why Sarah and I serve on the boards of these beloved institutions.”
Birger also serves as vice-president on the board of the Whidbey Island Holistic Health Association, another of her passions.
Whidbey Islanders comprise about 60 percent of the garden tour’s visitors. The remaining 40 percent come from as far away as Connecticut, Colorado and Arizona. Last year more than 800 visitors bought tickets to view the splendor of the island’s gardens, and no doubt spent more than the tour’s $30 ticket price while staying on Whidbey.
“I talked to a couple from Bellingham last year who said they come every year,” Birger said. “They spent about $1,500 on lodging and food over the weekend because the tour is so worth it. In addition to helping the local economy, the tour helps support some of the nearly 300 nonprofits on Whidbey.”
Last year’s WIGT’s ten beneficiaries included: Clinton Community Hall, Coupeville Farm to School, Greenbank Progressive Club, Meerkerk Gardens, Ryan’s House for Youth, South Whidbey Commons, South Whidbey Good Cheer, South Whidbey Tilth Association, The Whidbey Institute, and Whidbey Watershed Stewards.
“We are an organization that–among other community benefits–helps raise funds so youth can put their hands in the dirt, learn about growing their own food, and get to know the wonders of the natural world,” Birger said.
Grant application guidelines and the application form can be found on the WIGT Grants page. Applications are due by April 30th of this year.
This year’s upcoming tour includes gardens in Freeland, Langley and Clinton. One is Willhardt Woods, featuring a healthy second-growth forest. Owned by Sean Wilson and Mike Gerhardt, the 7-acre South Whidbey farm specializes in herbs grown for medicinal teas, permaculture orchards, and plants grown to benefit humans and wildlife alike.
Each year, members of the WIGT garden selection committee have to say no to some fabulous gardens due to a lack of large-scale parking. This year, WIGT is trying something new by hosting a Mother’s Day Champagne Tea Saturday May 10 from 3 to 5 PM at Clinton Hall. At this event, people can bid on silent auction Secret Garden Tours, which includes a private tour limited to a single carload of visitors. Tea visitors are encouraged to wear their finest hats for a hat parade, bring their mothers, or mothers of the heart, and dine on a catered menu of savories and sweets, champagne and tea. The $65 per person tickets are available through April 10th; after that date, tickets will be $75. Visit WIGT Tea for more information.
Innovation is something the WIGT board values highly. Last year and again this year, local artists were invited to apply as artists in residence at some of the gardens featured on the tour. The Mother’s Day Tea and Secret Garden Tours are new this year, but, so too, is the tour date. This is the latest date the WIGT has been held in its nearly 30-year history. A number of garden owners said they would love to be on the tour, but their gardens looked better in July than in June, when the tour was usually held. The 2025 tour will be held July 12 from 10 AM to 4 PM this year.
The garden tour is one hundred percent run by volunteers who are considered the heart of the organization. By joining the WIGT team, they receive two free tickets for a garden pre-tour held the Friday evening before the main event, July 12th. In exchange for volunteering at the Friday pre-tour, or on Saturday’s day of tour, volunteers are treated to an appreciation event once the last of tour visitors leave the gardens Saturday evening. The gratitude gathering is held at a garden apart from the main tour, due to lack of large scale parking access. Proceeds from the Mother’s Day Tea help fund the costs associated with producing the tour and the post-tour volunteer appreciation gathering.
Volunteer duties include greeting tour attendees, directing them to parking areas, and interacting with visitors as they meander through the gardens. Many posts are waiting to be filled, and according to Birger, “If you don’t watch out, like me, you may go from someone who buys tickets, to becoming a volunteer, to being a board member. And that is a beautiful thing!”
To learn more about the Whidbey Island Garden Tour, click here. Tickets are available on the webpage –there is a $5 early bird discount if you purchase tickets by April 30th.
