At the Raymond Village Library - by Sally Holt

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

I remember to the right of the front steps of my childhood home in Massachusetts there were always a couple of bright yellow daffodils that appeared, almost by magic each spring. When I spotted those first daffodils, I would sit and study them for a few minutes and think about how strangely beautiful they looked after a winter filled with the color white. Maybe that is why my favorite color is yellow.

Speaking of beautiful flowers, you may remember the Raymond Garden Tour from two summers ago. It was so popular and well-attended that the library decided to have another. We invite you to enjoy a summer day discovering the many distinctive ways gardening is interpreted in Raymond, Maine, the heart of the Sebago Lake Region. You will be touring stunning private landscapes that showcase Raymond’s spectacular rural countryside. A day you will never forget. 

The Garden Tour will start at the Raymond Village Library on 3 Meadow Road in Raymond on June 27^th from 9 a.m. to 3p.m., rain or shine. The cost of a ticket is $15 for an advance ticket and $20 the day of the tour. You can purchase your tickets at the library or the Raymond Village Florist by check or by cash or online at www.raymondvillagelibrary.org.

There is also a gorgeous purple iris watercolor painting by Donna Kantor  for raffle through mid-day June 27^th. The raffle tickets for purchase are at the library and at Raymond Village Florist. You do not need to be present to win. The proceeds from both the Garden Tour and the raffle will benefit the library.

The day will end with the annual Strawberry Festival at 3:30 p.m. at the Hawthorne House. The guest speaker will be Donna Anderson, executive director and Kristen Perry, director of horticulture at McLaughlin Garden and Homestead in South Paris and to top it all off homemade strawberry shortcake will be served. Donation is $10.

Prior to the Garden Tour, in the month of June, Raymond Village Library will be hosting programs on wine myths, perennial gardening and you can sign up to paint our own sunflower masterpiece with Karen Schroeder from Paint the Town in Harrison, Maine.  And don’t forget our annual plant sale on Saturday, June 6 from 7 a.m. to 11a.m. If you have plants of any type to donate please drop them off at the library between 4 p.m. and 6p.m. on Friday, June 5^th. 

For more information, call the library at 655-4283 or check out the library website at www.raymondvillagelibrary.org.