Gardening for good
Walkabout: PI
Happenings in the Star City
Summers seem so short that every moment of the season is a treasure – and where best to find treasure in the Star City than in its gardens? Whether a small bed or a large array, the bright blossoms and lush greenery are sights to behold.
They say gardening is therapeutic as well; I can personally attest to that. Besides being a physical workout, it’s calming to dig, plant, water, pull weeds, prune, move things around the garden – and then see the results burst forth.
For many years, members of the Presque Isle Garden Club have been creating botanical sanctuaries at their homes, as well as beautifying the city with their handiwork. Among other things, their efforts have brightened spots along the bike path and provided blooms on Main Street — including this year’s planters filled with cascading pink petunias.
(And many thanks to the Fire Department for keeping them watered!)
The club will expand its reach next week to combine beauty with sustenance when it hosts a garden tour that aims to make a difference. All fees collected will help provide food to those in need.
On Saturday, Aug. 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., six local gardeners will open their yards to the public for the tour, sponsored by the garden club along with St. Mary’s Catholic Church, the Grant Memorial United Methodist Church, the Presque Isle Congregational Church and St. John’s Episcopal Church.
Viewers may visit any or all of the featured gardens that afternoon. Proceeds will benefit the local food pantry Grace Interfaith Food Table (GIFT). According to Roberta Griffiths of the PIGC, the ecumenical pantry was established in 1983 as Sister Mary’s Food Pantry, located in the basement of the former convent at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
In 1997, St. Mary’s, along with St. John’s Episcopal, the Congregational/United Church of Christ and Grant Memorial Methodist churches formed a partnership to continue the pantry. GIFT was incorporated in 2003, and in 2011 it moved to Industrial Street, where it currently serves approximately 450 households in Presque Isle, Mapleton, Chapman, Crouseville and Castle Hill.
Griffiths’ own gardens will be among the tour’s stops. Located at her 369 Fort Fairfield Road home, they include a water garden, shade garden, perennial garden and a vegetable garden that is being converted into grass.
“There will be perennials available for the digging,” Griffiths said.
Other participating gardeners include Ann Hemphill, 193 Easton Rd.; Suzanne Hews, 254 Easton Rd., Terry Kilcollins, 7 Bridgeport Court; and Tammy Walton, 8 Dupont Drive.
Hemphill has 12 themed gardens showing what can be grown in full sun, partial shade and full shade, explained Griffiths, so gardeners may choose varieties for their particular needs.
The Hews’ country home includes several garden spaces, including one for shade and a large perennial garden. “Other unique features include several varieties of weeping trees and a shady spot for long naps on hot summer days,” said Griffiths.
Kilcollins began gardening in 1990 after she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Things grew bit by bit, and after a trip to England and Ireland in 1996, she sketched a design that was brought to scale with help from her husband, Wayne, an engineer. Using boards, she laid out the design on the lawn; the now-sunken boards comprise the outline of the formal gardens.
Walton states she is not an expert gardener, but calls her garden a “dabbling” garden. “If I like it, I plant it,” she said. Her garden space may be small, but she enjoys making it attractive.
In addition to the above gardeners, Donna Keegan’s Myrtle Tree will be open for the tour and has offered to donate 10 percent of the cost of any plants purchased to GIFT, Griffiths added, and Debbie Ames, who owns Ravenswood Gifts on the Myrtle Tree grounds, will also donate 10 percent of purchases made that day.
Tickets for the garden tour are available at Goin’ Postal and Myrtle Tree, or at any of the four churches, prior to Aug. 6. On the day of the event, they will be available at Grant Memorial Methodist Church at 9:30 a.m.
Gardens will be marked with balloons.
For more information, contact Griffiths at 768-5608.
