Southern Butler County Garden Club showcases gardening expertise with annual tour
CRANBERRY TWP — Among the blooms and branches, Rose Romboski allows her imagination to take over anytime she steps into a garden.
So when Cranberry Township officials approached her and the Southern Butler County Garden Club in the fall of 2017 about the possibility of adding a garden to Graham Park, it became an ideal opportunity to display some of that creativity.
Nearly eight years later on what was previously just open green space, the Graham Park Community Garden has come alive with the brightest and most beautiful colors that nature has to offer.
“It’s very satisfying because we cultivated it from the ground up,” said Romboski, who serves as the garden’s coordinator. “Everything that we’ve planted, we’ve gotten to see it grow, and we’ve nurtured it through all these years.”
That revamped look convinced Romboski and several other members to put the garden on display for its 17th annual tour on Saturday, June 28, at varying locations around Cranberry and Adams townships.
While members of the Cranberry Township Community Chest focused on expanding the number of sports courts for their 2017 Project of the Year, they wanted to add more life next to the black asphalt and gravel walking trails that defined the space.
What began as two simple garden beds of daffodils and irises has developed into a thriving and thoughtfully designed space.
The garden now features expanded flower beds, benches, a shed, a wildflower meadow and a Blue Star Memorial Marker honoring the nation’s veterans, a tribute made possible by the National Garden Clubs Inc.
Additionally, the Cranberry Yarn Creations group provided a unique aesthetic by knitting and crocheting various creatures that were spread out throughout the garden in recognition of National Pollinator Week that ran from June 16 through 22.
“All these years later in its eighth year, we wanted to put it back on the tour because it’s changed so much and it’s grown,” Romboski said.
Laura Murphy is one of about 12 members who pick a time each week to care for the garden through watering and weeding.
“It wasn’t here before, so it adds a lot of interest in gardening and interest in pollinators,” she said.
She credits a lot of what the garden has become to Romboski.
“It’s her inspiration, and it continues to be her creative talent that just shows itself here,” Murphy added.
The tour, which included six different locations, sold 225 tickets. But it wasn’t just Butler County residents who felt compelled to attend.
Rosalie Kupec and Leeanna Ryba, both from Lower Burrell, made the trip north just to experience what one of Butler County’s premier gardening clubs had to offer.
“I was in this garden when they first started it,” Ryba, who was a past president for the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania. “It’s really, really grown, and it’s just beautiful.”
“We have a park that our garden club does on a smaller scale — a butterfly and perennial pollinator garden,” Kupec said. “But this is incredible. Beautiful job. Well worth the price of the ticket.”
