Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

How does your garden grow? Historic Harrisburg Association to host “Secret Gardens” tour

Flowers at Paper Moon Flowers and Events in Midtown Harrisburg.

Back by popular demand, the Historic Harrisburg Association (HHA) will host its 2nd Annual “Secret Gardens of Historic Harrisburg” Garden Tour this weekend. 

The self-guided tour will run from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, and lead tour-goers to 20 gardens and outdoor spaces in the historic Midtown and Shipoke neighborhoods. Each participating house will have a sign in the yard.

“They’re going to see gardens they walk by and drive by all of the time and didn’t know existed,” said HHA’s Executive Director David Morrison. “There will be exciting discoveries.”

Shipoke and Midtown will be featured as part of HHA’s monthlong “A Celebration of Resolve,” a commemoration of the devastating 1972 Agnes flood, helping to show how these neighborhoods have progressed in the 50 years since the disaster.

While on the tour, attendees will learn how to keep a small outdoor garden and living space looking bright, especially in the city, and will leave with many gardening and landscaping tips. Homeowners and volunteers will be at each tour stop to help answer questions.

“What’s amazing is people have created lots of private, outdoor living spaces,” Morrison said of the city homes’ exterior decor. 

HHA brought the tour back last June after a 15-year hiatus to fill a programming gap that many other events left when they were canceled due to the pandemic. Morrison said that it was so popular that HHA had to bring it back this year with different neighborhoods.

“A lot of people love the idea of exploring the city themselves,” he said.

At the conclusion of the tour, there will be a vendor market for attendees to purchase tools to use to start their own gardens, as well as an afterparty with beverages and snacks courtesy of Zerøday Brewing Co. Paper Moon Flowers and Events at 916 N. 3rd St. will also be open from 1 to 5 p.m. for ticket holders only.

Tickets to this event are $20, or $25 if purchased on the day of the tour. Each participant will receive a guidebook with a map to follow.

Learn more about the “Secret Gardens of Historic Harrisburg” Garden Tour at the Historic Harrisburg Association’s website.

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