Walk through Wayne: Five gardens open to the public Saturday
The Wayne Countryside Garden Club will show off five of the town's best gardens for its biannual garden walk this Saturday.
Tickets cost $12 in advance and $15 on Saturday. The profits will be funneled right back into the community.
"This walk is our main fundraiser for our philanthropic stuff like fall cleanups, trimming back bushes, maintaining plantings around old village hall and holly hanging in winter," club president Val Star said.
The garden walk operates like an open house, where people are free to come and go from each garden as they please, spending as much or as little time as they want before going on to the next one.
The distance between the featured gardens makes "walk" too literal a term for this event. Star expects most people to bike or drive between the gardens, and people could take anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours to see the gardens.
The gardens were selected by a committee of club members to showcase Wayne's biodiversity.
The first garden on the walk belongs to club vice president Barbara Lepke, who has kept much of her five-acre property wooded.
"My garden has a lot of weeping trees, like weeping willows, weeping white pines, weeping crabs, and weeping cherry," Lepke said.
The second is described as a "true shade garden," because of the large hemlock trees meant to give maximum privacy. The garden's waterfall cascades into a small pond stocked with Japanese koi fish.
Midway through the walk, the third garden is oriented toward attracting animals in addition to plants and trees. This English garden is decked out with a bird bath and house and a butterfly bush. Aesthetic beauty is not sacrificed to draw in animals, as the garden also has flowering bushes, climbing roses and evergreen trees.
Next on the route is a cottage garden that features Asiatic lilies combined with baby's breath, wild geraniums and menarda.
And last on the walk is a nearly three-acre formal garden populated by a wide swath of trees. Raised plantings surrounded by stone are found throughout, as are flowering and variegated shrubs.
When the garden walk was held last time two years ago, weather cooperated and upward of 350 people showed up. Event organizers are planning for this year's event to be as popular, weather permitting.
"This event is rain or shine, so our attendance will really depend on good weather," Star said.
People can show up anytime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, but all walkers will begin at Lepke's garden at 33W262 Ashley Lane. For details, call Lepke at (630) 497-0186 or email the club at wcginfo@gmail.com.
<p class="factboxtextbold12col"><b>What: Wayne Countryside Garden Club's Garden Walk 2009</b></p> <p class="factboxtextbold12col"><b>When:</b> 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 27</p> <p class="factboxtextbold12col"><b>Where:</b> The first garden is at 33W262 Ashley Lane</p> <p class="factboxtextbold12col"><b>How much?</b> $12 in advance, $15 on Saturday</p> <p class="factboxtextbold12col"><b>Details:</b> Call club vice president Barbara Lepke at (630) 497-0186 or e-mail <a href="mailto:wcginfo@gmail.com">wcginfo@gmail.com</a></p>