Gardeners are getting ready again for the time of year when their hard work and determination is recognized by the community.

The 14th annual Elmhurst Garden Club Garden Walk and Faire “An Afternoon in the Garden” Sunday, July 12, allows participants to tour Elmhurst’s residential gardens and visit the fair and the herb garden in Wilder Park, 225 Prospect Ave. The walk begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m., and the fair begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. 

Proceeds will support the Mildred Hartney College Scholarship Fund, which assists students who are entering the field of horticulture, environmental studies, botany, biology and other related sciences.

Georgia Dolan, chairwoman of the event, said the gardens were chosen by the garden selection committee from the Elmhurst Garden Club. The selections were made more than a year ago.

“This year we have seven gardens,” Dolan said. “It’s a real unique collection, and there is something for everybody.”

Dolan said the herb garden is a formal garden that was created by the Elmhurst Garden Club. This year the garden contains, for the first time, medicinal herbs. Also featured are culinary herbs such as chives and parsley and fragrant herbs such as lavender and sage.

Participants who purchase a ticket can stop for Tea Under the Tent in the herb garden to rest and enjoy beverages and snacks while listening to music, said Penny O’Neill, publicity chairwoman for the garden club.

Tickets are $10 before the event, or $15 that day. Attendees also will receive a garden walk guidebook that will direct them to the participating homes.

Elmhurst resident Carolyn Swallow’s garden is featured in the walk for the first time this year. She said her front and back yard garden has a cottage atmosphere. She has a mixture of vegetables and flowers, squash and gourds, a wheelbarrel full of flowers in the front garden, native and prairie plants, bird feeders in the back garden and a shade garden with house plants.

Swallow said her backyard is a place of sanctuary and for birds to feed.

“What I have achieved is an island of tranquility,” Swallow said. “It’s a very peaceful place.”

The fair, which is free and open to the public, features a variety of arts and crafts. The Red Barn Greenhouse also will be selling a collection of plants and flowers that were grown in Michigan.

O’Neill said the master gardeners will be present to answer questions from the public.

“They can tell you what that little bug is who is eating at your plant,” O’Neill said. “They are full of garden knowledge.”

The Elmhurst Garden Club also is making donations to the Children’s Garden at the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, the Elmhurst YMCA, for projects at Elmhurst Schools and the Elmhurst College Arboretum.