In Lenore Sooknarine’s eyes, gardening is more than a hobby – it’s an interaction with the world around her. She said that’s why she agreed to open up her home for the NOTL Horticultural Society’s annual garden tour, after a member drove by her house and noticed the greenery.

The annual Gardener’s Garden Tour gives locals a chance to discover otherwise private gardens, and gardeners a chance to flex their green thumbs in front of the public.

“I do believe it’s not by accident we are able to experience the town, the beauty,” Sooknarine said.

Her garden is a five-year project intended to complement her house and fill her pre-retirement life. Titled “Finding Her Joy in the Garden” on the tour’s map, she says gardening supports her mental health.

“It’s rewarding emotionally,” she said. “It gives me joy seeing the before and after, and to see the new seasons generating,” Sooknarine said.

The proceeds from the tour will benefit three students from Niagara College’s school of environment and horticulture, a cause that hits home for Rose Bartel — she’s an alum of that program.

“I went to school for horticulture at Niagara College, and three students will be helped from [the tour],” Bartel said.

A decades-long member of the NOTL Horticultural Society, Bartel last opened her garden to tour guests in the 2000s. Since then, she has retired and has more time to dedicate to her yard – at least four hours per day, she says.

“I would have loved to have a garden years ago, but it didn’t happen,” she said. “There seem to be more older ladies, 50 and up, who are really enjoying it.”

Bartel’s garden occupies a large property, making space for vegetables, flowers and pathways that weave through greenery. Another location polished with paths is Heather Aycan’s “Growing with the Flow” garden.

“I’m in the garden all the time, pulling out weeds and hoeing and cutting the roses back,” Aycan said.

She says she began gardening because of her grandmother, whose own garden felt “magical” to explore as a kid.

“She had a little bungalow and in the back, it was a total surprise. There were little pathways leading to little surprises in the garden, maybe a little fountain or a little statue,” she said. “I just loved it; it was beautiful.”

With Aycan’s garden including multiple pathways, small statues and water elements, the magic of her grandmother’s legacy is in the air.

The tour was introduced to her through a neighbour, who recommended Aycan to the Horticultural Society. She says the hydrangeas and the koi pond were highlights for guests — the number of guests that turned out was an exciting outcome of the event for her.

“People have been flowing through, which is fantastic for the Horticultural Society. Everybody’s been so kind and gracious with their compliments,” she said.

The tour included 10 stops throughout town — some visitors strode through the heat to try to visit every garden.

Tiffany Tsantsoulas and her eight-year-old daughter, Lena, share a love of gardens and sought to follow the map to each location.

“We both really love gardens … we wanted to see some other plants and houses that we don’t normally get to see,” Tsantsoulas said.

For Lena, the best part of the tour was seeing the pools. When Tsantsoulas repeated her daughter’s most frequently asked questions, she said, “Why isn’t it a garden and pool tour?” and “Why can’t I jump in the pool?”

The Gardener’s Garden Tour ran from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and was run by volunteers who welcomed and led guests through each gardener’s sanctuary.

“I don’t need to have as many people around me, and not that I don’t want to, but I find that the garden and the plants help me,” Sooknarine said.

“Opening up the garden today has been an additional joy for me.”