Haywood Garden Tour set for June 18

From Haywood Garden Tour:

Haywood County June 18 Garden Tour

On Saturday, June 18, join the Haywood County Extension Service and the Haywood County Master Gardeners for the 2016 “Pollinate, Propagate, Cultivate” Garden Tour.Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the tour. Only 500 tickets will be sold. Tickets are on sale at the Cooperative Extension Center at 589 Raccoon Road, Suite 118, in Waynesville. Prepaid tickets can be ordered by calling 828-456-3575.

Until June 10th tickets can be purchased at BB Barnes Nursery in Asheville; The Haywood County Arts Council Gallery & Gifts, 86 N. Main Street in Waynesville; Riverview Farm and Garden, 23 Penland St in Canton and Grass Root Gardens, 1368 Dellwood Road in Waynesville.

Chances for a drawing for a $500 gift certificate from Mountain View Nursery and Landscaping can be bought at each ticket location.

Plein Air artists will be painting at each garden and there will be demonstrations at the gardens of propagation, attracting Monarch butterflies, bees and other pollinators, square foot and vertical gardening and how to construct a children’s garden.

Proceeds will benefit the Haywood County Extension Horticulture Program and horticultural and educational projects throughout the County, including elementary school gardens, the plant clinic and grant programs.

The tour will begin at The Mountain Research located across Raccoon Road from the
County Extension Service where any remaining tickets will be sold. Directions to the gardens will be distributed at this location. It is a driving tour and people may visit the gardens in any order.

Following are short descriptions of the six stops on the garden tour:

MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION
A Local Gem Hiding In Plain Sight
The 2016 Haywood County “Pollinate, Propagate, Cultivate” Tour begins at the Mountain Research Station barn in Waynesville. Visit the vendors inside, pick up tickets and tour directions, and head out to view the gardens.
Kaleb Rathbone, the Research Operations Manager and a farmer himself, and his staff find ways to help people stay connected to their food sources. Tour the Research Station to learn more about how the staff here offesr solutions to healtheir births in cattle and the growth of more productive and disease tolerant vegetables.

AT 10:00 ON JUNE 18, THERE WILL BE A WAGON TOUR GIVEN BY KALEB RATHBONE AND HIS STAFF. GARDEN TOUR PARTICIPANTS WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE MANY OF THE STUDIES CURRENTLY PURSUED AT THE RESEARCH STATION. PLEASE SIGN UP WHEN YOU COME TO THE BARN FOR YOUR TICKET AS THE TOUR IS LIMITED TO THE FIRST FIFTY.

A Profusion of Beds
This property is down a little-travelled lane that takes you to the unexpected richness of the owners’ beautiful home and extensive yard. A shuttle van will take you from the Research Farm’s barn to tour this 1 ¼ acre environment where you will see a wide variety of trees, bushes, and flowers with wind sculptures, whimsical antiques, bird feeders, a rippling stream that has required intense clearing, and a view toward woods and mountains. Included are numerous bulbs, daylilies, hydrangeas, Japanese Iris, butterfly bushes, honeysuckle, and some plants and trees beloved by the owners from their former, out of state hometown.

A Sanctuary for Butterflies, Birds, and Humans
This gardne is an Official Monarch Waystation and, since 1998, has been designed to shelter, feed, and protect our native species of butterflies as well as birds, wildlife, and rare wildflowers. The owners’ have conscientiously chosen plants to provide the three essential elements that monarchs require for survival: native plants, nectar plants, and host plants that all contribute to the encouragement of butterflies’ quality of life. You’ll see their commitment to feeding themselves from their vegetable garden along with their commitment to feeding and providing habitat to birds, with numerous birdhouses and feeders, and to nurturing butterflies with their choice of milkweed to provide a place for caterpillars and colorful flowers to provide nectar for butterflies. Visitors will be able to wander along the stream and through the planted areas, open grassy lawns, and wooded edges of the property.

Apples and Bees, Berries and Trees
The owners of this apiary and orchard had a dream to grow fruit and feed their community. Since 2007, they have developed–from that dream, two properties, and a will to learn what they didn’t know before–a dynamic orchard that grows not only 1400 apple trees of 60 different varieties but also 20 varieties of peaches, four varieties of nectarines, raspberries, a flock of chickens to provide eggs, and an ideal environment for bees. Preparing themselves to be stewards of their dream involved attending pomology school and bee school, and what they have learned along the way is impressive. All aspects of the Garden Tour’s theme: “Pollinate, Propagate, Cultivate” are exemplified in this stop on your tour. Visitors will be able to drive slowly through the orchards and can stop to observe grafting demonstrations at 11:00, 1:00, and 3:00. Although the visit is too early to eat an apple from the orchard, there will be honey for sale and flowers in bloom that encourage the bees.

Keep Your Sunny Side Up
This garden is also an Office Monarch Waystation. The home is nestled in beds of multiple textures shapes, and colors. However, it started out as a blank canvas when the owners bought the house in 2003 and started from scratch with the landscaping and gardening. As you approach the front door, you will pass beds that are highly textured, subtly colored, and scaled to reflect the size of the home’s front elevation. The biggest surprise comes when you enter the backyard, which opens up to a wide expanse of pristine lawn, edged by diverse perennial beds, a patio with container plantings, earth boxes, raised beds for Square Foot Gardening, an herb garden, a bubbling fish pond, and a gazebo. All this diversity is backed by a mountain view. One of the owners’ is an accomplished artist and you will see her nature-inspired art displayed in her garden. Butterflies and other pollinators are also made welcome in this intentionally planned Official Monarch Waystation. Join Master Gardener Volunteer Joe Smiley for a hands-on demonstration on propagation and learn how to multiply your own favorite flowers and shrubs.

An Award-Winning Garden Gives Each Visitor Rewards
The Giving Garden is a testimony to committed partnerships and volunteers. It is a joint effort of the Haywood County Public Library, the Haywood County Cooperative Extension Service, and the Extension Master Gardener Program and is the result of intentional and extensive planning to accomplish specific educational goals. The Library strives to serve as “A Gateway for Lifelong Learning”, and the Giving Garden manifests that motto. The Extension Service and its Master Gardener Volunteer Program brought the idea to life: constructing and installing raised beds and a certified Monarch Waystation, overseeing the planting of the beds, and leading gardening classes. You will see seven raised beds, including vegetable and flower beds, composting facilities, and demonstrations of Square Foot Gardening with high yields of vegetables using intensive planting methods. There are also children’s planting opportunities in a specially designed child-sized bed. Vertical gardening is demonstrated by a teepee and a pallet garden. Vegetables grown here are donated to The Community Kitchen in Canton. Visitors will see how much can be accomplished in a few beds with low labor requirements, and will be inspired to imagine what they can do too.

How could one resist seeing these fabulous gardens? Buy a ticket as a Father’s Day gift. For more information, call the Haywood County Coopertive Extension office at 828-456-3575.