BY MOYA ANDREWS
If you are a gardener, or simply appreciate gardens and the outdoors, mark your calendar now so you can be sure to attend the Bloomington Garden Club’s 2019 Summer Garden Walk the weekend of June 8 and 9. This will be the 30th year for the popular event.
It is a self-guided tour and locations of the gardens and directions on how to find them are printed on the bright-yellow tickets that are now available at Bloomingfoods East, Bloomington Hardware, Bloomington Valley Nursery, Goods for Cooks, Hall’s Greenhouse, Mays Greenhouse, and Ellettsville True Value Hardware.
Buy your tickets early and be sure to invite your friends to join you, then plan your itinerary in advance. In addition to the walk, you can take in the annual flower show at the Monroe County History Center. This year’s theme is Everything Is Coming Up Roses.
All five private gardens and the flower show can be visited on either Saturday or Sunday, or you can split your visits between the two days. The sites may be visited in any order between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Children under 12 are admitted free of charge.
The Summer Garden Walk is a great way to get ideas for your own garden as the gardens chosen each year represent a variety of sizes and styles and showcase a range of different plants that grow well in our region, ensuring that visitors glean plenty of ideas useful for implementation in their own yards.
If you are a beginning gardener or have just moved to a new home and are starting from scratch, the Garden Walk is an easy way to familiarize yourself with many gardening options. Similarly, if you want to update your landscape or have challenges in your existing garden that you want to address, you can conveniently find specific answers to your questions during the Garden Walk.
Owners of the gardens will be available during the Garden Walk to talk with visitors about how to garden successfully in this region. Additionally, members of the Bloomington Garden Club serve as hosts in each of the gardens and are knowledgeable about the names and habits of various plants and will provide practical answers to any questions you may have.
For more information, visit bloomingtongardenclub.org.
