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The Floral City Garden Club hands out maps to ticket buyers on Saturday that reveal the sites on a tour. Here's a preview of some of the gardens.
By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published September 19, 2005
Floral City will live up to its name Saturday as some of its lushest and best-maintained gardens open during the Secret Gardens Tour.
The locations of the gardens are secret. Ticket buyers will get a map after they buy the tickets, and they can depart on a self-guided tour at their own pace.
Organized by the Floral City Garden Club, the Secret Gardens Tour presents many types of landscapes. The city has lakefront, woods and downtown gardens, each offering a different take on gardening.
With most gardens, it's the whimsy and imagination of the gardener, in combination with the plants and nature, that form the whole.
Because the tour sites are secret, this reporter was given a behind-the-scenes tour of some of the half-dozen gardens, with the provision that the locations would not be revealed.
One of the largest gardens is very near the downtown area, just a block from the traffic light on U.S. 41. This well-maintained garden has numerous planting beds outlined by paving bricks, a brick pathway and a large pond. The garden frames a beautifully restored Old Florida cottage-style home.
Several of the gardens are on Duval Island, east of the downtown. The island is kept warm by the lake, allowing gardeners a chance to duck some of the plant-killing frosts.
While some of the gardens here are grand, others are next to modest ranch homes, such as one where a gardener and her husband have been planting and pruning over five years. The house has a lakefront view, which not only provides a layer of warmth during the winter, but gives the gardener a beautiful backdrop. This garden has lots of beautiful flowering plants, a water pond and a bench near the lakeshore. The garden path runs near a swimming pool and large rosemary shrubs, which give a delicious whiff of the herb when brushed against.
Along Duval Drive, one of the largest homes on the island has a stunning lakefront view. This garden is large, but with an emphasis on low maintenance, because the owners travel frequently.
This garden also contains one of the largest groupings of nun's orchids most people will ever see. Although the orchids are not flowering, their large green foliage is impressive. Driftwood taken from the lake has been used for accent pieces.
There are a few Florida-friendly gardens, which feature native plants, low-maintenance landscaping and drip irrigation.
This is the second garden tour organized by the Floral City Garden Club. Last year's tour was canceled because of the hurricanes, but the tour before that drew about 350 people.
Although not officially on the secret gardens tour, a must-see on Duval Island is the bromeliad garden planted and maintained by the residents of Garden Circle.
To heighten the experience, several well-known Citrus County artists will be creating works at the gardens.
The artists are Sharon Aldrich, stained glass; Tina Bristol Estes, wind chimes; Laura Sloop Hennings, the Oriental style of fish-rubbing prints known as Gyotaku; Ryan Jenkins, copper sculpture; Alicia Lowe; stoneware pottery; Denise Lowe, decorative clay; and Mary L. Nigels, glass bead and silversmith.
--Jorge Sanchez covers arts and entertainment in Citrus County. Call 860-7313 or e-mail sanchez@sptimes.com
[Last modified September 19, 2005, 01:08:18]
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