Sooke Secret Garden Tour
Tour dates
2024 dates to be announced
How do we choose the gardens?
Many people ask how we choose the gardens for our Tour. Immediately after the annual Tour each year we face the challenge of finding new gardens for the following year. Word of mouth, asking local landscapers, advertising and simply driving around looking, are all useful ways of arranging the Tour from year to year. Our objective is always to select a variety of gardens, large, small, manicured, wild, some designed and maintained by their owners, others with the help of professional gardeners. We look for some with waterfront, some with edible gardens, some rural acreages and, we hope, an interesting tour of Sooke’s beautiful back roads. We often select a few from past Tours to show their development and offer further inspiration to visitors.
Watch the 2021 Virtual Tour
Each year, Garden Owners in Sooke have generously opened their beautiful and interesting gardens for the Sooke Secret Garden Tour. Watch the 2021 video series featuring gardens from Sooke to East Sooke and music by members and friends of the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra.
Join us for the Sooke Philharmonic Society’s annual fundraising event.
Rain or Shine!
The SOOKE SECRET GARDEN TOUR is self-guided and this year, celebrates the revival of the tour after a four-year pause. The return of the tour will present a new two-day format followed by a concert in a garden on Sunday, June 2 at 4:30pm.
Special destinations will feature the Sooke Region Museum, Artisans Garden and Woodside Farms and some garden owners will have plants for sale!
Your ticket includes two days of exclusive access to eight private gardens with musical performances, artists, artisans, vendors, and master gardeners at select locations. It also includes a summer concert in a vibrant garden. Bring a chair/blanket to sit on.
All proceeds raised through the Garden Tour keep music performance and wellness accessible in our community. Thank you for your support!
Sooke Region Museum
If you haven’t already purchased your ticket, this will be your first stop. Although the Museum doesn’t have a formal garden there are many native plants such as huckleberry, periwinkle, wild lilies, kinnikinnick and ferns sprinkled throughout the property. Take some time to explore the museum itself and the interesting gift shop and don’t miss the gigantic cross-section of log on display outside! You’ll be fascinated by the history here.
Special Destinations
The Artisan’s Garden
Aptly named, Artisan’s Garden is a lush and peaceful garden center offering an abundance of plants for sale as well as a home goods shop specializing in local artist’s work and ethically sourced fair-trade artisans. Enjoy purchased treats from the coffee bar while you take in the magnificent ocean view and take home a plant or two to enhance your own garden!
Woodside Farms
Operating since 1851, Woodside Farm has the honour of being Western Canada’s longest operating farm producing hay, fruit, vegetables, berries, eggs and more. Although the property was the original farmstead of the well-known Muir family, the new owners have made substantial changes since 2021 by planting over 2,000 trees, 7,000 strawberry plants, herb and flower gardens with buckthorn, haskap and Chilean guava. It’s become a family destination to buy the produce, walk the amazing apple orchards and meet their friendly animals. Come be part of the old and new history in the making!
About the Tour
The annual Sooke Secret Garden Tour is a major fundraiser for the Sooke Philharmonic Society and has delighted gardening fans as the Tour evolved over the years. Each year we find yet more beautiful and interesting gardens, and more gardeners who are willing to share the wonderful results of their hard work. We are grateful to them all, past, present and future.
The first Tour was organized in 2000 by Women in Tune, a group of dedicated volunteers whose mission was to raise funds for the performing arts in Sooke. With the Women in Tune’s decision to disband, the fundraising committee of the Sooke Philharmonic Society decided to re-establish the Tour as a major fundraiser for the Sooke Philharmonic Society.
Our Supporters
The Sooke Secret Garden Tour is grateful for the generous support of its sponsors from the community. We encourage you to support them in turn, while visiting Sooke or any time throughout the year!
Friends of the Tour
The Sooke Philharmonic and the Sooke Arts Council are holding a joint fundraiser, with publicity support from the Sooke Fine Arts Society, to benefit the Sooke Philharmonic. The tour will showcase local gardens filled with music by members of the Sooke Philharmonic and friends. You are invited to participate in a Plein Air, creating works of art "in the open air"!
TERMS OF PARTICIPATION: The Sooke Arts Council will pay each participating artist a $50 honorarium to offset the cost of supplies. By agreeing to participate in this very special cultural event, and in order to receive the honorarium, you agree to donate your completed piece to Sooke Arts Council by June 15th, to be auctioned off as a joint fundraiser for the Sooke Philharmonic and Sooke Arts Council. Honorariums will be paid upon receipt of your completed work.
