If you’re looking for ideas for your own garden or just want to enjoy the beauty of flowers and plants, the 31st Annual Yardeners Garden Tour on Aug. 3 is an opportunity to see some of the most spectacular gardens in St. Clair Shores.
The self-guided tour includes six unique gardens, each showcasing different styles of gardening, a variety of plants, and garden decor. Jennifer Rizzo, whose garden is on the tour, has spent the past 10 years creating a native plant garden in her front and back yard. She chose plants that fit the conditions – a lot of full sun but very wet ground conditions.
“Instead of getting a drain and pumping water into the street, I have water-loving native plants and shrubs that help to alleviate flooding,” said Rizzo. “I’m pretty passionate about native plants.” Right now the Cardinal Flowers and Culver’s Root are blooming and should on full display during the tour.
“The native plants draw so many different types of pollinators,” said Rizzo. “Every day there is a new type of insect I’ve never seen before out there in the garden.” Rizzo works full-time so she devotes most of her weekends to her garden, but often after work when she is sitting outside decompressing from her day, she finds herself wandering over to one of her flower beds.
“I putter,” said Rizzo. “I’m coming outside to relax and then the next thing I know I’m deadheading plants or taking photos of the garden.” Sue Davis’ garden is also part of the tour and features perennials, annuals, vegetables and herbs planted both in ground and in containers.
“My garden is a combination of all different things,” said Davis. “I’ve got a lot of different kinds of hydrangeas, several clematis, hostas and lots of vegetables and herbs. “I have shady areas, part sun and way in the back, full sun but it is always changing.
” Davis also has a lot of unusual garden decor throughout her numerous gardens. “We took down a huge maple tree and we had the tree trunk carved and that now has a clematis growing on it,” said Davis. “I also have a lot of iron pieces and several gazing balls made out of different materials.
” There are tomatoes, cucumbers and clematis climbing on the large trellis Davis built specially for her garden. The 31st annual St. Clair Shores Yardeners Garden Tour is Aug.
3, 9 a.m.- 3 p.
m. It is self-guided and a brochure with a map is available for purchase at the Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum at 22500 11 Mile Road behind the St. Clair Shores Public Library.
Cost of the tour is $5 per person, children 12 and under have free admission. Vendors, including native plant vendors, will be at the museum until noon and will be at some of the gardens as well..
