Gardens of summer: 11 beauties in Old Orchard will be open for tours Saturday

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Backyard garden of Richard Cozza, 2429 Goddard Rd., Toledo. <br> <img src=http://www.toledoblade.com/graphics/icons/photo.gif> <font color=red><b>VIEW</font color=red></b>: <a href=" /apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=TO&Dato=20080617&Kategori=ART08&Lopenr=919824332&Ref=PH" target="_blank "><b>Garden Tour</b></a>

Gardening enthusiasts can celebrate the first official day of summer on Saturday by plucking ideas on annuals and perennials, grasses and ground covers, ponds and waterfalls, containers and more at the 13th annual "In Another Garden" tour.

Eleven gardens in the genteel Old Orchard neighborhood of West Toledo will be open to visitors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the fund-raiser for Toledo Day Nursery, a nationally accredited child-care center that dates back to 1871. Vendors will be at each location, and short presentations are scheduled throughout the day at two of the gardens on such topics as herbs, hostas, pruning, and flower arranging.

The neighborhood itself is a treat, notes Lynda Gilbert, who is chairman of the garden tour each year along with handling other special events for Toledo Day Nursery.

"We had [the tour] in Old Orchard in 2003 , and it was our largest attendance.... Walking between the houses is fun and looking at the architecture and the other gardens," she says.

All of this year s gardens are on the tour for the first time. Some are side-by-side, some are scattered. Tour-goers can walk from garden to garden, or ride a shuttle that will operate on a loop from the parking lot at the former Temple B Nai Israel, 2727 Kenwood Blvd.

The tour gardens are a mix of large and small spaces, sunny and shady areas, Mrs. Gilbert says. Some have water features; many incorporate garden art.

"Garden aficionados like to see what a homeowner actually can do," Mrs. Gilbert points out. "They re looking for ideas and ways to landscape their own gardens."

The garden borders of Judy and Millard Jones, 2318 Densmore Drive, feature intense colors. Red, rose, pink, and yellow dominate the landscape.

At 2315 Densmore, Jennifer and Jim Cope tend a large vegetable garden as well as flower gardens planted in color zones. A water fountain and Koi pond create a feeling of serenity.

Whimsical garden art dots Roxanne and Paul Graham s spacious yard at 3105 Pelham Rd., while an unusual Henry Lauders Walking Stick tree stands in Gabriella and John Mancy s yard at 2246 Barrington Drive.

Mary and Ron Schneider, of Schneider Landscaping, have created a quiet getaway in their enclosed backyard, complete with a pond and waterfall that were built from reclaimed steps from Rosary Cathedral.

Visitors to the gardens of Richard Cozza, Jr., 2429 Goddard Rd., will see birdhouses tucked here and there. A weeping pine and an oversized arch divide the front from the back gardens.

Paula and Orrie Hiett s cozy yard at 2455 Goddard includes a mulched stone path and massive plantings of wax begonias under a mushroom-shaped birch tree. Herbs and delicious scents are a feature of Debby and Bill Balmat s garden at 2703 Goddard.

Kathy and Tom Perzynski, at 2911 Drummond Rd., enjoy using a variety of greens with modest splashes of color from a variety of perennials. Eva and Mike Anderson s plantings at 2908 Barrington include a magnolia tree, holly, roses, dogwoods, and ferns lining the driveway path.

Anita and Tony Tallent, 2934 Barrington, surround their in-ground pool with hanging baskets, shrubs, ground cover, and hostas. A sentimental feature is a 200-year-old family rose bush that has been transplanted over four generations beginning in Minster, Ohio.

The 13th annual 'In Another Garden' tour presented by Friends of Toledo Day Nursery will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in Old Orchard. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on the day of the tour. Tickets can be purchased through Friday at Ken's Flower Shops, Black Diamond Nursery, Hoen's Greenhouse and Garden Center, Rhodes' Garden Fresh, Garden Delights, Schramm's Flowers, Schneider Landscaping, and Emery Flowers and Co. Tickets can be purchased Saturday at the parking/shuttle site at 2727 Kenwood Blvd. or at any of the tour gardens. A garden tour preview party is scheduled at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Tickets are $75. Information: 419-243-2627 or www.toledodaynursery.org.

Contact Ann Weber at: aweber@theblade.com or 419-724-6126.