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2002 GARDEN TOUR WEEKEND Whether you’re a seasoned gardener looking for a relaxing weekend or some fresh ideas, or a beginner seeking ways to create your own backyard haven, the 2002 Demuth Garden Tour Weekend, to be held June 7 through 9, has something for you. The festivities begin Friday evening with a gala garden party and silent auction at the historic Conestoga House at 1608 Marietta Avenue, from 6.00 to 8.00 pm, complete with music, hors d’oeuvres, and a cash bar. This year’s tour features 14 gardens in historic Lancaster County, representing the works of master gardeners to novices, with 10 new gardens and four stunning ones from previous tours. Hours are Saturday and Sunday, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. Visitors will find endless ideas, from how to create a relaxing backyard escape on the smallest of city lots to achieving a formal or informal look with acres of stunning trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and water gardens. With the Demuth Foundation and Conestoga House gardens as anchors, the variety of gardeners and gardenscapes is unprecedented. The 2002 tour emphasizes the tranquillity and creative outlet afforded many owners who have crafted their gardens into artful backyard sanctuaries; the tour further features many small, innovative city gardens that are conveniently close to one another , demonstrating how small spaces and offer big rewards. The gardens also offer an array of creativity and talents, from a garden featuring its owner’s pottery works, The recreated garden of Charles Demuth’s mother Augusta, at 114 East King Street, is certainly to a masterpiece this year, under the skilled care of its first professional gardener and, of course, featuring its hallmark white rugosa -- philnom de cachon – no longer available commercially in the United States. Lore has it that Demuth brought it from Paris as a gift for his mother. An ever-evolving work of art, this year’s garden theme is “Daisies,” reflecting a frequent subject in Demuth’s watercolors. Complementing the garden, Demuth’s 1929 work, “Daisies” (once show at Alfred Stieglitz’s American Place gallery in New York) is on display at the museum. The ever grand Conestoga House gardens will be complimented again this year with the Lancaster Bonsai Society displays of some of their nationally recognized plants in the orangery. The 1930's former residence of James H. and Louise Tinsley Steinman offers five acres of gardens that serve as host to some 3,000 annual and bedding plants, 150 varieties of perennials, over 100 different tropical plants, and more than 175 rose bushes. Distinctly European, the beautiful architecture, landscape, and gardens draw visitors from near and far. Two gardens on North Shippen Street offer informal, serene settings with an array of glowers and trees, making visitors forget that they are in the city. One of these started from scratch three years ago, and now features an informal side with a deck, an arbor and a garden room for entertaining. The other one has evolved over a number of years, adding a mysterious pagoda, a trellis covered with vine, and arbors. Both gardens grow herbs, vegetables, and flowers for cutting in planting boxes in the back, and both are perfect examples of small city spaces that have been transformed into tranquil and relaxing spaces. A garden on West Walnut Street is the result of three years of diligent care, two tons of topsoil, and 300 tulips. Aside from a lovely fountain and pone, the owner says he wants “you to feel as though you were entering a floral arrangement when you walk through the year.” Indeed, this year’s Garden Tour visitors will be awed by this lovely, flowered hideaway.
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