A Drive to My Garden for a Tour

Do you remember when I did a post on the Master Gardeners? At the time I posted this post, I was not an 'officially' certified Master Gardener. I did attend and successfully complete the training, but had not received my certificate. That has been remedied and I am now a certified Master Gardener.


As such, it opened up a lot of gardening and learning opportunities for me. The most fun part is the meetings and getting to be around MANY other avid gardeners. One of the upcoming fund raising projects the Master Gardener Organization is sponsoring is the Master Gardener Garden Tour. My garden was chosen to be one of seven gardens on this year's Master Gardener Garden Tour scheduled for June 21 between the hours of 9-3.


I am very excited about it and a bit nervous. I love showing my garden but showing it to numerous STRANGERS will be a different animal altogether. Fortunately I will have some good friends helping out here on the big day. Plus, many of my friends are planning to buy tickets and tour the seven gardens, so I'll see many familiar faces. Tickets are available for a mere $10 from any master gardener, the Extension office located on Cumberland Drive, Betsy's Barn, and Quick Print located downtown. I plan to get my hands on some too and do some selling as well. The Master Gardener Association expects to sell approximately 300 tickets this year, so get your tickets early. All visitors, including children, will require a ticket.

Come June 21st, my garden will not look anything like it does it now, so I thought I would share a visitor's first impression now, during the spring. The above picture is my aptly named the 'Driveway Garden'. It is on the left as you pull in the driveway.

On the right of the driveway and facing oncoming traffic, visitors are greeted with some peonies and a small garden, also with some peonies.
The above peonies are white, but the pink ones tend to wake drivers up coming north on my road.
Pulling a bit further into the driveway we spot the house nestled among the gardens. So far it hasn't turned into a jungle and I rue the day it does-if it ever does! The checkerboard pattern of concrete stones and lawn makes a good overflow parking area. Just be careful you don't run over the plants. This is a view on the right side of the driveway.

The driver will pull into a little cutout and be greeted with a look up towards the road through the driveway garden. The small stone wall defines the garden, but a bit of the garden is overflowing into the parking area. It is OK, they are hardy plants and don't care if they are run over occasionally. I just love that artemisia 'Powis Castle'. This area of the garden was re-worked last fall due to the loss of three large white azaleas from the late freeze. It is kind of sparse looking but will fill out nicely. The anchor plants in this area are three oak leaf hydrangeas, barely visible in the picture since they are small seedlings.

On the right side of the cutout is the 'Perennial Garden'. This garden is the oldest and most established garden here at Tiger Gardens. Most folks love it right away. It is one of my favorites as well, mostly because of the fact it is established, it is generally very low maintenance. I don't have to do anything to this garden. Absolutely nothing unless you count a slight bit of weeding. No annuals grow in this bed, though it is a mixed border consisting of trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, and bulbs. What is blooming now is: Snow in Summer, Dianthus (the pink and new red 'Heart Attack' type), irises, and catmint. The roses are coming on strong and will soon be open. This garden does not have something blooming in it all year since there are no camellias located in it. But it does have year round interest with the River Birch, crabapple, nandinas and yews.

Now the visitor heads up the front sidewalk to the front door. The 'Foundation Bed' has finally filled out and is looking lovely this spring. The gardener (me) is quite happy with this bed this year. I switched to pretty much all perennials in this bed last year. I wish I could take credit for it all, but the daises and 'Love in a Mist' are self seeders here. I believe the daisy like flowering mass past the lambs ear is chamomile. It is a frequent grower here in the spring without help from me. When I tried to grow it, it refused. Isn't that the way it always is?

If the visitor can look away from the 'Foundation Bed', he or she might notice the 'Sidewalk Garden' on the right of the sidewalk. This garden is another mixed border, as are all of my gardens. There are annuals in both the foundation bed and sidewalk garden though.

Here is a view from the front sidewalk looking toward the driveway and Driveway Garden. It gives a totally different perspective. The problem with pictures and blogs is that they can't really give the whole feeling of a garden. It just isn't the same as being there. The next stop is the front door.....

Oops! How did we wind up in the backyard? I'll save that tour for another day. Don't forget to get your Master Gardener Garden Tour tickets and come see seven gardens! See them in person; which is a whole different experience. Like I said, this garden will be completely different come June, but at least you know the way to front door now. Hope to see you June 21st!

P.S. BJ will be there to greet all visitors. Don't worry, he is the big friendly dog with the ball in his mouth waiting for a quick throw of his ball from visitors so he can show you all his prowess at catching it in mid air. Do you see him by the front porch? He is showing the way.

in the garden....