'Hartford Blooms' going big for its 10th anniversary: tours of CT's iconic Blue Onion Dome available

HARTFORD — Hartford Blooms, the annual event that provides the public with tours of the city's best gardens and historic sites, turns 10 this year, and organizers have expanded the program's choices.

The program, which runs from June 1-9, will offer 10 different bus/walking tours of well-known to little-known sites around Connecticut's capital city.

The tours, which will have morning and afternoon times, will focus on different topics aimed at participants' interests. They include:

• Along the River — Will explore the Connecticut River, parts of Riverside Walk, "Mount Trashmore," and Riverfront Recapture's future park.
• Asylum Hill — Participants will see secret gardens, an 8,000-square-foot house built in 1860, historic churches, and the homes of Mark Twain and Harriett Beacher-Stowe.
• Downtown Hartford — With stops at Dunkin' Park, hidden gardens, the Hartford Club, and new shops and eateries on Pratt Street.
• Parkville — Will highlight gardens and greenhouses at Knox Parks Foundation, Parkville Market, and neighborhood Portuguese shops. 
• Historic Cemeteries — Visitors will join local historian Bill Hosley at Cedar Hill Cemetery, the Ancient Burying Ground, and Old North Cemetery. 
• Coltsville — Visitors can join Hosley again and Coltsville developer Larry Dooley for a morning tour of the buildings and grounds of Coltsville and have an opportunity to walk up into the campus' iconic Blue Onion Dome.
• All Around Town — Will feature gardens, historic houses, and developments and information on some upcoming developments.
• Coltsville (part two) — An additional opportunity to take one of the more popular tours in the afternoon instead.
• The South End — Visitors can take a trip down memory lane at Goodwin Park, Trinity College, and visit multicultural Franklin Avenue.
• The Mystery Tour — Will feature surprises and end with a live jazz band and complimentary food and drink.

Mike McGarry, a former Hartford City Councilman and the founder of the program, said each option offers new information, historical knowledge, and an opportunity to check out places hidden and in sight.

"You can check out the top of the dome and other places you wouldn't normally go," McGarry said Wednesday.

Hosley said Wednesday that he has done a variety of programs with McGarry over the years and that his main area of interest is the city's cemeteries.

"Mike comes up with the structure and I do what I can to help out," he said.

McGarry said the original tour was born as a result of a trip to Ireland in 1995 with elected city leaders, including then-mayor Mike Peters.

The trip included local garden bus tours and McGarry remembers telling Peters that they should try it in Hartford.

"Mike said 'it's your job,'" McGarry recalled.

The garden tours, McGarry said, had some stops and starts over the years and then the decision was made to expand to other city attractions at the suggestion of then-mayor Pedro Segarra about 12 years ago.

McGarry said that this year the Riverfront, Coltsville, and mystery tours are nearly sold out and that he might consider adding another tour for those if the demand is there.

In addition to expanding the offerings, McGarry said that he has discontinued the use of school buses for the tours. This year and going forward, ticket holders will ride in 41-seat comfort buses that are similar to transit buses.

Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased online at hartfordblooms.net.