FOSTORIA - Garden enthusiasts can find many ideas to incorporate into their own landscaping by attending the Fostoria Garden Tour 1-5 p.m. Sunday. The Fostoria Garden Club has lined up nine stops around the city for this event, which takes place every other year.
Tickets are $5 each and available in advance at The Bookshelf and Conine's Market in Fostoria. On the day of the tour, tickets can be purchased at any of the gardens. They do not need to be viewed in any particular order. Each location will have a garden club hostess to guide visitors and answer questions.
At Good Shepherd Home, 725 Columbus Ave., guests can see many knockout roses in bloom, river birch and foxwood trees, a pond and three waterfalls. Residents enjoy feeding the fish that reside in the ponds. Stop at the main entrance off Columbus Avenue to hook up with the hostess, Carol Hall, a Good Shepherd resident and past garden club president.
Article Photos
PHOTOS BY MARYANN KROMER
Ceramic elves, gazing balls and whimsical planters accent the brilliant flowers in front of the Wainscott home. The red blooms at right are called aghosta lilies.
Cookies and lemonade are to be served at the Friendship Circle Pavilion. Golf cart tours also are to be offered.
Ritchie and Edna Coleman have filled their garden at 643 N. Main St. with a small pond surrounded by many interesting specimens, especially along one side of the house. The property has few large trees, which affords abundant sunshine. Birds often visit the feeders and bird baths in the yard. Edna has a number of angel figures positioned among the plants. In the back is a collection of flamingos illuminated by solar lights after dark.
The flower beds at St. Wendelin Catholic Church, 323 Wood St., are tended by groups of parishioners as memorials to loved ones. Beside the school across from the church are two massive oak trees that protect a shade garden in the parking lot. Near the main entry is a statue of the parish patron.
Bob and Marilena Wainscott have managed to grow a multitude of annuals and perennials in a small space. The features include benches Bob made from cast-off furniture and planter chairs purchased at garage sales and flea markets. Marilena has tried to model her garden after a small villa in northern Italy. She buys many of her bulbs, shrubs and other plantings when they go on sale at the end of the season.
Be sure to look for the ghost lilies and the Japanese willow shrubs.
Ed and Mary Miller have recycled the old Park-n-Shop ticket booth to serve as a garden shed in their back yard at 213 Vickie Lane. On one side, Mary has built a mini-greenhouse with salvaged windows, doors and lattice work. Glass bricks saved from a building in downtown Fostoria have been turned into a garden wall. A vintage clematis clings to a trellis near the garage, and raised beds hold a variety of vegetables. A small fountain gurgles by a back window where Mary sits to watch birds.
Most days, one can find Ed and Betty Mason working in their spacious yard at 200 Jeanette Drive. Betty said they would be gardening even if they were not taking part in the tour.
At the back of the house is a patio that looks out onto the grassy lawn. Multiple bird baths and feeders attract a variety of feathered creatures. Peppers and tomatoes grow in a plot circled with stones. Drip hoses keep everything moist. Two dead stumps hold rustic bird houses built by the couple's grandsons, now in their 20s.
Rock lovers should be sure to stop at 480 TR 248 in Hancock County. Homeowner Steve Millott has built a dry rock pond and has incorporated stones from the surrounding farmland into his landscaping.
Jim and Sharon Lininger at 22827 Hancock CR 216 have set up an interesting watering system at their residence.
The final tour stop is at 2106 TR 256 in Hancock County. The five acres belonging to John and Eydia Addington are registered with the National Wildlife Federation.
The site includes perennial gardens, a pond and wildlife trails. The couple will allow visitors to stay until dark.
