When the town turns out for the Garden Tour this Saturday, a lot of superlatives will be used to capture the indescribable beauty of the amazing landscapes included on this year’s tour. Words like fabulous, gorgeous, stunning, and magnificent will be heard at every stop.

No matter what else is happening on Saturday, make time for this tour. It may be one of the most memorable days you’ll spend in 2011.

The San Saba Garden Club is sponsoring this fundraising event. Tour hours are from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm on Saturday, June 4. The tour starts at the home of Gail and Lester Bruner at 1104 W. Commerce. The Bruners will be serving complimentary refreshments on their spacious veranda. Tour tickets are $10 per person. After leaving the Bruner home, participants will furnish their own transportation and may visit the other tour sites in any order they wish during the designated tour hours.

The tour will feature homes within the City of San Saba and three homes on Sloan Road. The town gardens include Gail and Lester’s home plus the homes of Martha Leigh and Bob Whitten and Suzanne and Junior Hernandez.

The Sloan Road tour includes the homes of Donna and Larry Baker, Kathleen and Ray Hawkins, and Jimma and John Byrd. All of these gardens start with beautiful natural surroundings. The Hawkins home and the Baker home feature bubbling springs with flowing and channeled water courses which wind their way through ancient oaks and towering pecan trees. Both owners created flora accents to enhance the natural beauty and functionality of the land, trees and water.

The Byrd residence is a true organic paradise. Jimma fell in love with ornithology when she took an elective class in college. Over the years, her love affair with birds and butterflies deepened. Soon after marrying John, she saw a picture of a magnificent kitchen garden and told John, "Oh, honey, that’s exactly what I want." And, together they created it. In addition, Jimma and John have a huge vegetable garden which is dwarfed only by the size of their compost pile. They’re so devoted to organic practices that they have bat houses in the pecan orchard and a visiting Ph.D. student doing her dissertation on the relationship between bats and moths.

In addition to viewing each garden, you’ll be able to visit with homeowners about how they planned their gardens, selected the right plants and how they continuously strive to improve their gardens.

While the adjectives will abound as visitors walk through these inspiring landscapes, one important word that might be overlooked is stewardship. Defined as "the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care," these gardeners are true stewards of these God-given treasures. They’ve carefully managed these beautiful assets and enhanced them with a caring and creative human touch. Come be inspired by their handiwork!