Saugeen Shores Tour of Gardens made its come-back appearance, hosted by the Southport Horticultural Society in support of Huron Shores Hospice last year (2025), after several years hiatus. In this its second year, the Tour has continued to grow and has proven to be more popular than ever.
The group presented the donation to Huron Shores Hospice in the sweeping gardens of Kelly McDonald’s & Gary Karst’s in Saugeen Township, homeowners on this year’s tour.
Six gardening homeowners opened their gardens to the public, each unique in design and plantings. From low-maintenance climate-conscious to wildflower pollinator gardens, each was different and expressed the style and design of its owner.
In addition to homeowners’ gardens, this year saw a more educational component as the Butterflyway program held it pollinator concept at Jubilee Park in Southampton where members of the project explained the value and design of creating a pollinator garden.
In 2025, the Tour of Gardens raised approximately $5,000 while, this year, they raised almost $6,300. “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to support Huron Shores Hospice with this donation,” said Garden Tour Committee Chair and Horticultural Society past-President Rosemarie Eger. “We so much appreciate our homeowners who open their gardens to help support this worthy cause, our sponsors and, of course, our more than generous community who come out to explore the beauty of each of garden.”
She added that the volunteers and sponsors make “… an incredible difference to this fundraising event. I think the interest in gardening of all kinds is becoming more popular than ever as people look to becoming more in tune with nature.”
Eger said that they are already planning next year’s Tour of Gardens. “We are so fortunate that we have homeowner-gardeners already interested in helping to support this worthy cause so we are excited to see what next year will bring to our gardens.”
About Huron Shores Hospice: Huron Shores provides quality end-of-life care, at no cost, to residents of Saugeen Shores, Kincardine and Huron-Kinloss and surrounding areas. Our vision is to create a world where end-of-life receives the same beauty, care and respect as the beginning, by creating moments that matter. In addition to end-of-life care, Huron Shores Hospice also provides free programs for Grief Recovery, End of Life Doula services, Death Cafes, Caregiver workshops and
End-of-Life Planning workshops. Huron Shores Hospice is a charitable not-for-profit, volunteer-led, community-funded organization, located within Tiverton Park Manor in Tiverton, Ontario.
