Ideas blossom on Westmoreland garden tour
6/13/2007Experiencing the joy of gardening without getting your hands dirty - that's the Toledo Day Nursery's annual garden tour in a nutshell.
This year, the people who have done all the work for you - the digging and planting, dividing and watering, fertilizing and weeding - live in the historic Westmoreland neighborhood of West Toledo. Twelve gardens on Richmond Road, Mount Vernon Avenue, and Potomac Drive will be open for public tours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets are $20 the day of the event and $15 in advance from Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Black Diamond Garden Center, David Swesey Florist, Garden Delights, Ken's Flower Shops, Rhodes' Garden Fresh, Schramm's Flowers, and Select Stone Co. Proceeds benefit the 136-year-old Toledo Day Nursery, the oldest child-care center in Ohio and the fourth oldest in the United States.
Locations of the gardens on tour this year are:
•1959 Richmond Rd., home of Patty and Michael Lankey.
•2048 Richmond, home of Deborah Workman and Howard Cross.
•2051 Richmond, home of Jim Larson and Bill Mies.
•2128 Richmond, home of Jo and Bill Hartman.
•2160 Mount Vernon Ave., home of Pamela and Craig Black.
•2035 Mount Vernon, home of Ann and Ed Kipplen.
•2015 Mount Vernon, home of Barbara and Richard Perry
•1834 Mount Vernon, home of Anne and Jim Morris
•1724 Mount Vernon, home of Annabelle and John Buczkowski
•1969 Potomac Dr., home of Jim Moore and Tim Valko
•1906 Potomac, home of D. LaRouth and Robert Perry
•1911 Potomac, home of Mary Ellen and Calvin Babich
The garden tour homeowners generally are on hand to answer questions and talk about their gardens, said Lynda Gilbert, event chairman, In addition, experts from the community will share their knowledge on such topics as container gardening, care of roses, and flower arranging during "Tour Talks" scheduled throughout the day under two canopies set up on Mount Vernon.
The mini lectures are a new feature of the garden tours this year, Mrs. Gilbert said. The boulevard on Mount Vernon offered the space, "and we just thought it would be an interesting thing to do this year," she added. There's no additional charge for the talks.
Here's the lineup in Canopy A: Tom Schoen of Vintage Garden Gallery, speaking on native plants at 9 a.m.; Theresa Hoen of Hoen's Greenhouse, container garden design, 10 a.m.; Mike Szuberla of Toledo GROWS, community gardens, 11 a.m.; Nancy Robinson of The Andersons, designing container gardens, 1 p.m.; and Mike O'Rourke, known as "the Garden Guy," answering questions at 2 p.m.
Scheduled in Canopy B are: Margie Black, Premier Gardening Services, speaking on care of roses at 9:30 a.m.; Mona Macksey, master gardener, arranging flowers from your garden, 10:30 a.m.; Leslie Snell, Maumee Herb Society, the pleasure of herbs, 11:30 a.m.; and Charlene Patz, Black Swamp Hosta Society, discussing hostas at 12:30 p.m.
Also along Mount Vernon, food and beverages will be available for purchase, and nine vendors will set up shop in a tent to offer such wares as garden art, jewelry, and spices.
Both in the number of gardens and vendors, this year's "In Another Garden" will be one of the largest, Mrs. Gilbert noted.
She said this is the first time it has been held in Westmoreland, an elegant neighborhood located off Bancroft Street across from Ottawa Park. According to the Westmoreland Association Web site, it was designated a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Platted in 1916, construction of homes began in 1917 and continued through the 1930s. Today there are 216 homes on the original 323 lots, along with open, parklike areas.
"We love having [the garden tours] in a contained neighborhood because it's conducive to walking," Mrs. Gilbert said. For those who would rather ride, free shuttles will operate from the tour's parking headquarters at St. Francis de Sales High School, 2323 West Bancroft, to the neighborhood and back, looping past tour stops.
The tour gardens will offer ideas, information, and inspiration to gardeners - whether they have sprawling grounds or just a container or two on the patio - but you don't need to know one end of a trowel from the other in order to enjoy it.
"It's just fun to see what other people do with their gardens," Mrs. Gilbert said. "And it's a nice way to spend a few hours out of your busy life. It's relaxing,"
The Toledo Day Nursery's 12th annual garden tour, "In Another Garden," takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in the Westmoreland neighborhood off Bancroft Street and across from Ottawa Park in West Toledo. Parking, tickets, and shuttle buses to the gardens will be available at nearby St. Francis de Sales High School. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the event. Information: 419-243-2627.
Contact Ann Weber at: aweber@theblade.com
or 419-724-6126.