Two Searsport gardens will be open to the public on Saturday, July 26, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., as part of the Belfast Garden Club’s Open Garden Days. The event, which will take place rain or shine, will showcase gardens at 22 Union Street and 15 Water Street. $5 covers admission to both gardens.

Jim Rose’s delightful garden at 15 Water Street has grown and changed significantly since it debuted on the tour in 2020, becoming even more lush and dramatic. The challenging site slopes down to a brook in back of the property. Lovely stonework, meandering paths, unusual conifers, deciduous trees and perennials combine to make a statement that six-foot-tall lilies breathtakingly punctuate.

Located a three-minute drive away, the award-winning conservation garden of Belfast Garden Club member Sandi Cirillo, a well-known felting artist and art teacher, will also be open. In 2020, Sandi completed the Waldo County Soil and Water requirements to earn recognition as a Certified Conservation Landscape. She owns and tends to a diverse three acres of field, woodland, marsh, and stream. She will be on hand to give advice on addressing invasive plants and supporting wildlife. Minks, muskrats, herons, and birthing mother deer, as well as numerous bird and insect species, have made these acres home.

Revenue from the Saturday Open Garden Days events helps to fund the nonprofit’s educational and community projects, including book donations to local libraries and planting and maintenance of Belfast’s 13 public gardens.