Do you love to explore gardens and trade garden travel stories with fellow plant lovers? What about sharing with friends your personal bucket list of gardens you dream of experiencing?

If so, the Troy Garden Club invites you to attend its 50th garden walk, Garden Stories 2025, on Wednesday, July 9.

The Troy Garden Club, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in 1971 and proudly recognizes 94 members who live in many different communities.

Sporting the garden walk name “I Garden Because I Cannot Help Myself” (based on a quote by garden guru Margaret Roach), Michele and Tony Smith’s oasis on the east side of Troy, where they’ve lived since 1992, contains a collection of gorgeous plants. It, along with four other private garden venues in Troy, will be featured at this year’s walk.

Like most dedicated gardeners, the Smiths have a list of gardens they have “collected” through in-person explorations and photographs. A previous destination was the Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron, Ohio. They recommend the venue to others, not only for its beauty, but also because it’s not far from southeast Michigan. Their past bucket list favorites have included Michigan’s Dow Gardens in Midland and the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.

Michele, born in western Canada, grew up in Vancouver, the largest city in the country’s westernmost province. Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is located on Vancouver Island, not far from the state of Washington. Michele, a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, and Tony, an American from Virginia, met in Hawaii when he served in the U.S. Navy.

The couple celebrated their honeymoon at Vancouver Island’s famous Butchart Gardens, one of the most coveted garden destinations in the Western Hemisphere, if not the world.

When asked why she gardens, Michele said it’s an outlet for personal creativity. It allows her to be outdoors and “dig in the soil.” She also says that it’s relaxing, allowing her and Tony the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Located on the opposite side of Troy is the garden walk venue named “Patient Labor and Attention.” The title is based on a quote by famed American horticulturist and botanist Liberty Hyde Baily. Kimberlee Urwiller — a relatively new and enthusiastic gardener — tackled her ongoing gardening project only in recent years following retirement. Her gardening muse is her late mother who was dedicated mostly to flower gardening. A well-loved outdoor garden figure that belonged to her mother keeps watch — as mothers do — over Kimberlee and her plants. The Urwillers’ garden setting — serene and park-like — features a multitude of annuals, perennials, trees, boulders and an extensive backyard berm.

In addition to this year’s five gardens, the Troy Historic Village, 60 W. Wattles, just west of Livernois, will buzz with related activities on July 9, including a plant sale, an arts and crafts boutique and sponsored booths. It’s also where tickets can be purchased for the walk.

Garden walk ticket holders will receive a raffle ticket at each of the five gardens they visit. Tickets also will be given to garden walkers as a bonus for each plant sale transaction they complete, as well as each purchase made at the Midsummer Arts & Crafts Boutique. On garden walk day, containers for raffle tickets will be displayed at the Troy Historic Village, along with the raffle prizes. Winners will be contacted and need not be present to win.

As a bonus this year, the Bowers School Farm, 1219 E. Square Lake Road in Bloomfield Hills, will be open on garden walk day and welcomes participants to enjoy its gardens and other features on its 93 acres free of charge.

Garden walk tickets are $15 through July 8 and are available at the following locations during regular hours: Auburn Oaks Garden Center, Bordine’s Rochester, Piechnik’s Garden Gate, Telly’s Greenhouse, Troy Historic Village and Uncle Luke’s Feed Store. Tickets also can be purchased online at troygardenclubmi.com. On garden walk day, tickets are $18 each and will be sold only at the Troy Historic Village. There is no charge for children under the age of 10.

Troy’s garden walk received financial support in 2025 from 16 sponsors: Agua Fina Gardens International; Marietta Crabtree; A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Directors; Great Lakes Landscape Design; Greater Detroit Jazz Society; Michael K. McClain at Hantz Financial Services, Inc.; Hard Milling Solutions; Home Instead; Jeremy Schubert, branch manager at Lake Michigan Credit Union; Madany Dental; MKG & Associates at Merrill Lynch; Piechnik’s Garden Gate; Troy Garden Club Garden Walk Steering Committee chairpersons; Neil King Physical Therapy; Troy Newcomers Club and Woloson Family Fund.

Participating homeowners’ gardens will be open — rain or shine — from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 9. They will reopen from 5-8:30 p.m. Garden walk tickets list four Troy restaurants where garden walkers will receive discounts on lunches and/or dinners.

For more information, call 248-765-4809.