The Garden Club’s 2007 ‘Open Houses & Gardens’ series begins tomorrow when three homes in exclusive Fairylands in Pembroke will be open to the public from 1 p.m. to 4 pm. They are: ‘Olympic Gardens’, a house designed around a beautiful garden; ‘Mill Shares’, which is set in three acres overlooking Mill Creek; and ‘Alongside’ which has recently been expertly restored.

All are part of the Garden Club’s annual event which raises money for horticultural scholarships and environmental projects.

The event is the first of four successive weekly events in May. The focus moves to Paget parish next week when three homes, ‘Underwood’, ‘Marshen’ and ‘Milford’ will be open on Wednesday, May 9. On Wednesday, May 16 it is the turn of Smith’s parish, where ‘Millwood’, ‘General Pete Cottage’ and ‘Hinson Hall’ will be open. The final event, on Wednesday, May 23, will move to Sandys parish, where ‘Nautilus’, ‘Bridge House’ and ‘Point House’ will be on view.

Many visitors have timed their visit to Bermuda to coincide with this popular annual event, and many locals wish they had Wednesday afternoon off.

All of the houses will be decorated with beautiful floral arrangements.

This week members of the Garden Club will be arranging at ‘Olympic Gardens’ and ‘Mill Shares’, whilst ‘Alongside’ will be arranged by the Bermuda Chapter of Ikebana International. The Bermuda Rose Society is doing ‘General Pete Cottage’ in Smith’s parish for Wednesday, May 16, and newcomers to the event, the Hibiscus Garden Club, will be doing ‘Point House’ in Sandys on Wednesday, May 23.

Attendees are urged to enjoy the neighbourhood by walking between each house, although a shuttle service will be run by volunteer drivers next Wednesday when parking is at St. Paul’s Church, for the houses open in the vicinity of Lovers Lane in Paget. This might be a good opportunity to try taking the bus, as there is a frequent service on buses number 8, 7 and 2 which stop at the South Road end of Lovers Lane.For further information visit www.gardenclubbermuda.org