“How come I have never heard of this beautiful place Swampscott?”

For the Swampscott Garden Art Walk being held on June 29 from 11-3, Ralph Edwards is leading the SURE Diversity activity “Tell Us Your Story” which encourages neighbors to share a bit about themselves and their ancestors. Ralph says, “Each story is like a flower.”

All gardens are welcome! Resident Andrea Amour, said, “I’m a novice gardener but I want to join in!” and gardener Tim Knauer said, “I adopted a garden island near my house on Orchard Road. I plan to put native and perennial flowers there that the whole neighborhood can enjoy.”

While registering their gardens, Claire Donnelly and Cindy Hellman met for the first time even though they live around the corner from each other. Both are artists planning lively activities. When we expressed concern that their location in the Yellow Primrose Neighborhood is a bit “off the beaten path”, Cindy responded, “Don’t worry about us! We’ll have a party no matter what!”

Artists, Elisa and Katya, instantly bonded when they met to scope out locations for their art. Katya Popova, a Swampscott resident, was born in Moscow and teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music. Katya will have colorful watercolors of lilacs adorning the lilac bushes in the Olmsted District. She explained, “The blooms will have passed on the bushes so people will have to stretch their imagination to smell and experience the lilacs.”

Elisa Vanelli, an artist recently featured in Art New England Magazine, was born in Italy and educated in Paris, France. Elisa recently moved to Essex and is part of the Cape Ann Plein Air Painters. She learned of the event through Lisa Boemer, fellow artist who will be plein air painting in the Monument Avenue Gardens.

Upon leaving, the artists exchanged numbers and Elisa paused to take another look around. In her beautiful accent, she softly asked herself, “How come I have never heard of this beautiful place Swampscott?”

The Garden Art Walk is about sharing stories. All gardens and artists are welcome. Registration deadline for gardens and artists is May 31 at https://reacharts.org/