Art and gardens can be linked in many ways, and these links are exemplified by the annual Art & Garden Tour.

The Art & Garden Tour is put on every year by the Albert Lea Art Center. Donna Widenhoefer, Art & Garden Committee chair, said the tour has been going on since the 1980s, before she started helping out. For some of the gardeners, this is their first year participating.

That’s the case of Diane Westland, who has a self-described “informal country garden” on 1660 S. Broadway Ave.

Widenhoefer said Westland had been interested in the past, but the timing just didn’t work out.

Westland dabbled in gardening before, but when she and her husband moved to their current home in 2003, she expanded their garden space a little bit each year.

She said both of her grandmothers were green thumbs, so she grew up around gardening. Now she’s got a garden of her own full of perennials and potted annuals, as well as repurposed decor, benches, chairs, hiding spaces and plenty of frogs.

Most of the refurbished decor came from Westland’s family barn. She took old equipment parts and turned them into country-themed decor for her garden, and visitors can see the work she’s done during the tour.

The tour will start the night of June 27 and continue in the morning and afternoon of June 28. Widenhoefer said in the past that it’s been a very relaxing day for both the participants and the visitors.

People are free to come take notes and pictures of the gardening for ideas of their own.

There also will be an artist at each garden. This year’s artists are mostly painters, but Widenhoefer said any kind of art such as jewelry or sculpting is allowed.

The two are paired because art and gardens have a connection, Widenhoefer said, as gardening is an art form as well.

“Art is all over,” Widenhoefer said.

For Westland, her garden is going to be a family affair. She will have two artists present at her garden — her mother and her sister.

Westland’s mother, Phyllis Steiler, has been a lifelong member of the Art Center and does oil paintings of various landscapes and flowers. Her sister, Susan Antell, will be there with her flowere-themed quilts featuring hand-dyed fabric and applique.

“My mother can paint flowers and landscapes, my sister can put them on fabric and I plant them!” Westland said with a laugh.

Other gardeners and artists are Matt and Paula Twedt, 301 Lloyd Place, and Catherine Buboltz, 305 Lloyd Place, with artist Bonnie Broitzman; Greg and Jody Seeger, 300 North Lane, with artist Darlyne Paulson and Pat and David Garbisch, 72415 Grey Fawn Drive, with artist Pat Garbisch.