The month of June is an adventurous gardening month for me and my family.
Most gardens in the area are looking their best and can be quite inspiring if explored by garden enthusiasts. June is the garden tour month, whereas neighborhoods, garden clubs and towns decide to showcase some of their privately owned noteworthy gardens. My family has done the Mill Hill garden tour, the Hidden Gardens of Lambertville and the New Hope Garden tour. All of these tours I came away with some awe-inspired garden concept or knowledge of a unique plant that I wanted to try in my garden.
One time, I was so enthusiastic about a plant that I had viewed at a privately own garden that when my wife and I were getting into the car the home owner came out with a large clump for me to take home. Did I mention that gardeners are some of the friendliest people?
There was a garden tour that I went on last year with my friend Gerry that highlighted garden ponds in Bucks County. After that tour, I learned how to make an underwater shelf/cave and was able to incorporate this concept into my existing pond. It is always interesting and refreshing to see how inventive and sharing gardeners can be.
This yearm there is a garden tour that Girl Scout Troop 70138 of Ewing is sponsoring, called “Through the Garden Gate Tour.” I am excited about this tour because my wife and children are involved along with other families of Girl Scout Troop 70138. I believe this is the first ever Girl Scout garden tour for the area. The garden tour is going to be June 13 from noon to 4 p.m., and will cost $10; proceeds will benefit the Girl Scout troop. The tour will highlight outstanding private gardens in the immediate area.
Some of the featured gardens include a courtyard garden that has a fish pond, intimate sitting areas, birdfeeders, herbs, perennials and annuals. This garden also won the PHS community greening award. There is a garden on the tour in which its gardening philosophy is based on creating a healthy habitat in using eco-friendly gardening concepts and biodiversity alternatives to gardening.
There is a garden that has a unique collection of train signs, lights, signals and other railroad memorabilia. In this garden, there is a Pennsylvania Railroad grade crossing building, which was used by the crossing guard for stopping oncoming traffic from crossing the tracks for an oncoming train. My neighbor has entered his garden into the tour which has a tropical feel of large leaf hosta, cannas, ferns and banana trees. If you are lucky you may spy his resident tiger, Cappuccino, lurking in the jungle.
I have been told that it is not considered a garden unless you have at least one rose growing in it. A garden on the tour has 200 individual roses which includes 13 different varieties. This garden is for the senses, a tapestry of color and smell.
How would you like to view a straw bale garden? A 40-bale vegetable garden that is growing tomatoes, herbs, peppers, squash, cucumbers, string beans, carrots and cabbage, this may be just the ticket for you to learn how to use this unique and interesting gardening technique for growing vegetables in limited space.
This is just a sampling of some of the outstanding gardens that will be featured in this garden tour and should not be missed. For more information, email karcra@aol.com or pam.marsola@gmail.com, or call (609) 406-9272 and leave a message.
Craig Dupée is a garden-design consultant. He lives in Ewing with his wife and daughters. Send him your email questions at hort1014u@aol.com.
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