Sitting around the table in the office at the Bibler Home and Gardens in Kalispell, the head gardener, along with the current and former facility managers, had a discussion about who was really in charge at this flowing, floral oasis.
It was a short chat, because it centered on an aging cat named Tabby, who sat like a sentient loaf of bread on a nearby desk, watching through near-asleep eyes. She started her life at the gardens as the final kitten Louis A. “Sam” Bibler, the original owner, landscaper, and dreamer responsible for this place, would own before his death in 2002.
“And now we all work for her,” Rande Simon, the longtime manager of the Bibler facilities who is now phasing out of the job, said of Tabby the cat.
It’s said in jest, but really, this perspective is everywhere at these incredible gardens, where humans with years of expertise and careful hands do their best to give nature what it needs to survive and thrive, and then get out of its way.
“Things are popping a little earlier,” Jeanie Teausant, head gardener, said. “We’re looking forward to a lovely spring.”
The extensive private display gardens, along with the home, are maintained according to Bibler’s desire to preserve the site to be enjoyed by the Kalispell community. Along with hundreds of thousands of flowers each year, the Bibler gardens also offer a wide array of trees and shrubs, many of which are featured in the arboretum.
Down the hill just below the house, a log stable that would look at home in the Alps houses miniature animals, including goats, and provides winter housing for the myriad ducks, swans, and geese that call the garden home. Two orchards produce fruit, and roughly 150 different types of edible plants sprinkle the land.
And each year, the Bibler Home and Gardens hosts spring weekend tours, which take place May 7-15. All of the money raised during the event – tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for children – goes toward the scholarship fund at the Flathead Valley Community College Foundation.
During the first weekend, attendees can join the 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. guided tour of the home and gardens, along with additional time to wander the grounds. On May 8, FVCC’s Culinary Institute will host a Mother’s Day Brunch at the gardens; as of last week, the event was nearly sold out. Tickets are $60 each, or $110 per couple.
On Saturday, May 14, the guided tour also features a chance at 1:30 p.m. to visit the three rooms of the home featuring antique Persian rugs, including a collection of Tribal weavings. Tickets for the afternoon event are $20.
All tickets must be purchased in advance. Simon said the spring tours have gained significant popularity – last spring’s tours all sold out.
For the crews at the gardens and home, the work really started on March 1, with prepping the greenhouse to start the summer plants, along with some of the pansies and violets for spring.
Several projects were underway on the grounds last week in preparation for guests, such as replacing the flagstones on the back porch and turning them into a new waiting area out in front of the house, with thyme planted between them to give visitors a lovely scent while they wait.
Crews were also working on redoing a waterfall aspect and its streambed, and had already replanted several fully-grown trees.
“Working here is amazing, because I think I’ve had two slow days,” Teausant, who has worked at Bibler for eight years, said. “It just breezes by.”
When your office is a garden, it’s difficult to pick a favorite flower. After a few minutes of consideration, Teusant was able to decide her favorite type of Dahlia flower is the Gitts Crazy, but otherwise she prefers deciduous plants. Tyler Hawk, current manager at the home and gardens, said his favorites are the conifers, and Simon, a self-described lover of concrete and improvement projects, said his favorite is “anything [Teausant and Hawk] grow.”
And truly, the Bibler gardens are an invigorating place to experience the full blush of spring after the gray monotony of winter. Simon said one of the best aspects of the job is seeing someone experience this place for the first time, or watching visitors emerge from their winter shells back into the warm, colorful environment.
“There’s something special here,” Simon said. “The flowers, the bees, the birds – it’s like heaven.”
Tickets can be purchased through the FVCC Foundation Office by calling 406-756-3632 or by visiting www.biblergardens.org.