Enjoy a Saturday touring some of emporia’s best gardens
Amy Jordan
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Water features, colorful containers, vegetable gardens, and unique plants are just a few of the things you will see this Saturday at the Emporia Garden Tour.
Come to chat with fellow plant enthusiasts, or ask Master Gardeners your gardening questions.
The 5th annual Emporia Garden Tour will take place Saturday, June 23rd, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This event is sponsored by Lyon County Extension Master Gardener volunteers who use proceeds from the event for educational horticulture projects in Lyon County. Tickets are available at Water’s True Value Hardware, Riverside Gardens, Davies Nursery, and the K-State Research and Extension office for $5 in advance or $7 the day of the tour. Tickets will be available at all tour sites the day of the tour. Directions to each of the sites are printed on the back of the ticket.
There is still time to add to your plant collections or spruce up your flower beds this year. Be sure to check out the plant sale in the barn at the Howe House. Many different perennials will be available as well as other garden items. The plant sale will take place throughout the hours of the garden tour.
Following are brief descriptions of the gardens you will see on Saturday.
Wade and
Wilma Malone
1768 Old Manor Road
The Malone’s purchased their home in 1998. The landscaping opportunities and established flower beds were a draw to the house. The yard design and work is Wade’s hobby and domain. Being from the South, tropical plants were utilized as the banana trees originate from a strand of his grandfather’s. Ornamental grasses, hosta, lilies, iris, roses and hydrangea are among the many favorite plants to provide color, interest and depth to the flower beds. A new front and back deck have been added to the house with an addition of a small water feature.
Carrol and
Carolyn Koch
2114 Meadowlark Lane
The Koch’s have enjoyed creating many different flowerbeds around the home they have owned for 30-plus years. The front yard provides an opportunity for shade gardening with a large flowering crabapple tree. There are coleus, ferns, and hostas as well as elephant ears. Back to back flower beds, one perennial and one annual, invite you to the back yard. The back yard’s main feature is an in-ground swimming pool bordered by coreopsis and liriope. Clematis are a big favorite and are found in many locations around the yard. As you walk through their yard, take time to notice that the trees are staring at you and stop to read the garden signs along the way.
Mike and Ann Scheller
1929 Morningside Drive
The landscaping at the Scheller home is partially by design and by what plants were extras at Scheller’s Lawn and Landscape. The goal is to keep the yard child-friendly and easy to maintain. The Scheller’s favorite area is their pond and patio behind the house. They enjoy relaxing with a fire in the fire pit and listening to the waterfall. The three children are very involved with the landscaping. Each of them has a space in the garden to grow their favorite things. Even though Mike does landscaping every day, he still enjoys adding to the family landscaping when he has time.
Tim and Kristi Mohn
427 Union Street
The Mohn’s moved into the 130 year-old house at 427 Union eight years ago. Brick patios and seating areas create “garden rooms” and make great conversation areas for parties and family gatherings. The yard features twenty or so redbud trees, a variety of interesting shrubs, including smoke bush, azalea, rhododendron, bamboo, and honeysuckle. Oak, maple, and magnolia trees provide an abundance of shade. Containers of bacopia, begonia, coleus, herbs, and vegetables add color, interest, and salad. Some unique containers from Flinthills Music Store provide a whimsical touch.
Gene and Tammi Wirsig
1025 E. 12th Avenue
When the Wirsig’s moved to 1025 East 12th in 1994, they were blessed to have a blank slate with which to work. The only garden components to speak of were a few bushes that lined the front of the house, unkempt irises on the west side of the house (that Gene couldn’t seem to kill with the mower), and a few dying plants in an east, brick-lined bed. The garden began to emerge in 1998 when Tammi replaced Gene’s fescue on the east side with two hydrangeas and a dwarf cherry tree. Eventually, beds were added on the south and west sides of the house, and a variety of shade perennials were planted.
Parking for the tour of this site is available on the north side of 12th in the vacant lot.
The Historic Howe House
315 E Logan Avenue
The Howe House holds a unique place in the history of Emporia and the surrounding area. Begun before the Civil War, it stands as a testament to the early Welsh settlers. The property features several interesting heirloom plants. Defining the property in front and back of the house is a unique hedge fence. This beautiful and effective hedge is of the type used as fencing in the British Isles. The Master Gardeners of Lyon County have taken on the vegetable garden east of the house as a demonstration garden for the sesquicentennial celebration of Emporia. The plantings include heirloom tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, melons, gourds, corn, and sweet potatoes. The Gardeners have also spruced up an existing perennial garden near the back door and an herb garden south of the rock wall behind the house.