Merion Village, Clintonville and WesterFlora garden tours to offer inspiration to guests
If you are apt to go gaga over gardens, Greater Columbus is the place to be this month.
This weekend and next, a trio of leading garden tours will take place in communities throughout central Ohio: the Clintonville Garden Tour, on Sunday, the Merion Village Garden Tour, also on Sunday and WesterFlora in Westerville, set for July 17.
If you’ve got a green thumb — or want to — going on a garden tour may be the perfect way to get inspired.
“Everyone has been gardening because of COVID and ready for some inspiration,” said Marty Freado, chair of WesterFlora and a past participant in the garden tour. “When I go and see these gardens, I get lots of ideas.”
Here are the particulars for each of the garden tours, each of which is free and open to the public. For maps, addresses and more information, visit the websites or Facebook pages associated with each tour.
Merion Village Garden Tour
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday
What: Thirteen gardens will be part of the tour, including a recently transformed garden with beds of roses and a water fountain at 179 E. Welch Ave.; a garden designed to draw pollinators such as bees at 370 E. Markison Ave.; and a renovated garden that includes two raised beds bursting with fruits and vegetables at 1359 S. 5th St. From 1 to 3 p.m. at Walker Park, 241 E. Morrill Ave., children’s author Sherry Palmer will hold a book signing, and frozen dessert truck Chilljoy will be parked at Moeller Park, 281 Hanford St..
More information: https://www.merionvillage.org/garden-tour.html
Gardening:Coexisting with critters takes ingenuity to make plant buffet less appetizing
Clintonville Garden Tour
When: noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
What: Nine gardens will be available to tour, including a front-yard vegetable garden at 3539 Olentangy Blvd.; a turf-free garden at 554 Arden Road; and an immersive perennial garden at 191 E. Tulane Road.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2155593271264574/about
Gardening:What is a rain garden and how can it help my landscape, plants and flowers?
WesterFlora
When: noon to 6 p.m. July 17
What: This year’s tour theme of “Life Blooms Again” will be represented in the participating gardens throughout Westerville, including a backyard garden with multiple water features including a waterfall and a rock garden at 4272 Valley Quail Blvd. N.; and a sustainable garden at 6348 Showy Court. Also on tap will be musicians and artists scattered amid the greenery, including the band Avalon Nine at a garden at 3071 Minerva Lake Road.
More information: WesterFlora.net
tonguetteauthor2@aol.com