Butler in Bloom
The Butler County Symphony Association launches its latest fundraising opportunity June 16, sprouting from its famous Holiday House Tour. Members are hoping the Garden Tour will bloom into a beneficial way to help sustain the Butler Symphony.
“We've amassed quite a collection of diverse gardens that have something for everyone,” said Shirley Roe, the garden tour chairman. She said most of the gardens were previewed and selected last year, but there were a couple added to the slate this spring.
“We have hillside views, we have fountains, waterfalls, rural settings and city gardens. There are Master Gardeners on our tour with a variety of interesting offerings,” explained Roe.
One of the city gardens is at the home of Dr. Thomas and Cindy Murphy on Pearl Street. This Victorian house is surrounded by a lovely Victorian-style garden. The nearly year-round venture begins in late February when the Murphys begin several types of annuals with the aid of grow lights in their basement.
“We usually spend many hours each weekend working in the garden. During the hot summer months, my husband spends about one hour each evening watering the different gardens. In late fall, we winterize the garden, cutting back dead plants and putting mulch or hay around tender perennials,” said Cindy Murphy of their commitment to the garden.
Fragrance is key component in plant choice for the Murphys.
“We usually choose based on what would grow best in that particular location. We also try to include plants that are fragrant to make walking through the garden more enjoyable,” said Murphy who began this particular garden about 14 years ago with her husband when they purchased the home.
“Our garden is planted in a cottage garden style. We have all types of perennials, both full sun and shade. I would guess that we have at least 50 different types of perennials with dozens of annuals included,” she said.
The couple shares the labor and the reward with their young son Dylan, who is learning firsthand about how things grow.Murphy is a part-time paralegal while her husband is a dentist, and they both enjoy the fruits of their labor.“We find it very relaxing to work in the garden, and it's rewarding to see your garden in bloom when you are finished,” she said.She encourages everyone to try it but to start small.“I think it's easiest to start with a small garden space. Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by a large garden when you are beginning. Start small and enlarge your garden as you go,” she explained.The Murphys find that centaurea, or perennial cornflowers, are the easiest thing to grow in their space.“They are all over our yard,” she confessed. “Our roses are the most challenging and time-consuming plant in the garden,” she added.With early hot weather and the unseasonable cold that followed, it's anyone's guess what will be blooming come the day of the tour.“We should have many perennials and annuals blooming at that time — David Austin roses, lavender, lilies, clematis, poppies, yellow bleeding heart vine, gardenia tree, flowering tobacco,” Murphy said.One of the most rural gardens on the tour is the 3-acre garden of Nada and Fred Sarkin on Rockdale Road. The retired teacher has been gardening for 35 years and has been working on this particular garden since 1990. She was delighted to be a part of the tour.“A gardener enjoys nothing more than sharing her garden with others,” said Sarkin.For her, the garden is about sharing not only the rewards but also the plants.“Share perennials that friends are having luck with. If it is doing well for them, there is a good chance it will work for you. Gardening doesn't have to be expensive,” she explained. Sarkin has been influenced and found one of the best teachers of gardening to be those friends she shares with.She has found tie daylilies and hosta to be the easiest things to grow in her garden, but the invasive plants are the most challenging to deal with. Invasive plants are plants that are often uninvited, but tend to grow and overtake other plants. “The chameleon and trumpet vine are examples of plants that are too easy to grow and that can be a nuisance,” said Sarkin.Sarkin has to find hearty plants that can withstand the menagerie of animals that roam the property.“Visitors will be able to view llamas, alpacas, a horse, a donkey and two emus, however the chickens, peacocks, turkeys, and guinea hens roam free and are part of the gardens,” said Sarkin, whose devotion toward animals led her to the farm where she could feed her passion.“Animals came first and then the gardens came later, although they both grew with time,” she said.Tour-goers will be able to meander along pathways and trails by waterfalls and ponds at the Sarkin garden.She encourages novice gardeners to just get started by digging a hole and planting something. “Have some fun and don't over think it,” she challenges.A cookie-and-punch reception and an option to purchase some luncheon items will be held at the Meridian Gift Shop gazebo at 298 Meridian Road throughout the day.“It will be a nice gathering place for the community,” said Roe.For more information call 724-283-1402.
<B>WHAT: </B>Butler County Symphony Association's first Garden Tour<B>WHEN: </B>10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 16<B>WHERE: </B>Selected gardens in the area noted on ticket<B>TICKETS: </B>$15 pre-sale at Symphony Office, 259 S. Main St. (Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.); Meridian Gift Shop, 298 Meridian Road; Smith's Florist, 136 N. Main St. $20 on the day of the tour<B>GARDENS ON THE TOUR </B>• Nada and Fred Sarkin, 828 Rockdale Road• Dr. Thomas and Cindy Murphy, 219 E. Pearl Street• Jan Kelly, 397 Evans City Road,• Mary Ellen Walter, 120 Winterwood Drive• Sunset Hills Farm, Dr. David and Laurye Feller, 1120 Three Degree Road• Charles and Bernie Kamerer, 4165 Cypress Street (Meridian)
