2011 Garden Walk
The East Row Garden Club presented its 14th Annual East Row Garden Walk on June 25 and 26,
2011.
2011 Sponsors: Thank you to all of our generous sponsors and partners.
The Title Sponsor was
Multi-Craft and the Golden Trowel sponsor was the
Bank of Kentucky.
The Gardens. The gardens, most of which are nestled in back yards of historic Queen Anne and Italianate homes, are hidden from public view by century-old brick walls, ornate iron fences and other structures. They were chosen for their distinctive creativity, design and use of plant materials.
A “Remembrance Garden,” a tiny Tuscan-themed plot originally
designed by Gerri Jones, a founding member of the club who died in
March. The garden is being recreated as it was for the 2002 Garden Walk
when the Cincinnati Horticultural Society honored it with a prestigious
Gardener Recognition Award.
Once challenged by a corner lot that offered little privacy, a
“green fence” of shrubs now offers a retreat in the garden that also
features a pergola, an arbor and a “potager” with decorative cages for
tomatoes and eggplants, and a daughter’s “kid garden.”
One of the smallest gardens packs the biggest punch of color with a
variety of fascinating hanging baskets, window boxes and containers
planted with a vast assortment of annuals. The homeowner jokes she
“can’t discipline herself to do a theme” so, she chooses what she loves
and it all works together to create a charming, cozy space.
Inspired by the homeowner’s native France, the garden adopts the
bright yellows and blues of Provence. A beautiful three-bay window
overlooks the space designed with small mini walls (rocaille in French)
and accented with a large, dramatic blue urn planted with a five-foot
topiary Scotch pine.
A “Secret Garden” with perennials, roses and shrubs accented with a
large trellis planted with clematis, a fountain that the homeowner, a
professional garden designer, created from an old stone trough along
with seating areas and walkways built from sandstone, bluestone and
vintage brick.
The Walk’s second “Garden in Progress” a young garden undergoing
improvements that also will be on the 2012 tour. A year ago, the garden
was simply a concrete pad, which was removed along with towering
evergreen shrubs and a retaining wall. Currently, a restored historic
iron fence surrounds the garden.
Lush isn’t enough to describe this English perennial border
showcasing an astounding 54 containers, rain barrels painted and
stenciled to match the 19th century Italianate home, and hydrangeas,
roses and clematis that scamper everywhere. To satisfy the homeowner’s
passion for bread baking, a Mexican style adobe oven, also known as a
horno, is nestled into the back of the garden.
In a dramatic renovation, the homeowner, a native of England, has totally transformed her informal English cottage garden, removing stone walkways and replacing them with curved luxuriant beds with old-fashioned plants she says some of which date back centuries in English history and new varieties, too, including ‘White-Eyed Susie,’ a black-eyed Susan vine, and a ‘Ruby Falls’ redbud tree.
Due to the manner in which the East Row Historic District was designed in the 19th century, there are only a few homes with large gardens that face the street. So even before you walk through the wood gates of this Italianate home, the front gardens are large and luxuriant. Once through, a decorative concrete walkway at the side of the house nestles next to lengthy curved planting beds that lead visitors to a covered wooden deck with cozy seating.
The garden mimics the historic Italianate home’s interior design — an eclectic mix of contemporary and traditional. Classic clipped boxwood is punctuated with a sleek stone fountain. Modern furnishings and dramatic stainless steel containers are paired with 19th century-style iron fencing, tumbled brick and a variety of containers that range from weathered terra cotta and rusted metal to sparkling glazed ceramic.
With its century-old brick walls, a narrow courtyard garden,
reminiscent of those in Charleston, S.C., showcases beautiful statuary,
a waterfall and large koi pond seemingly carved into stone. The home was
featured in the Summer 2008 issue of a Better Homes & Gardens’
Special Interest Publication.
As always, great vendors selling plants and garden-related items, live music in the gardens and popular handouts listing the homeowners’ 10 favorite plants are among the other highlights.
Great Extras Along the 2011 Tour Route
- The East Row Community Garden, which features an herb garden
surrounded with a circular wall built with salvaged antique bricks.
- The East Row Pool and Social Club, a new facility composed of an
historic clubhouse and swimming pool near Hannaford Condominiums jointly
owned by a group of 50 families.
- Hamlet Row, an urban revitalization housing project on Hamlet Street
in which the East Row Garden Club contributed funds for trees.
- Mansion Hill Garden, Third Street and Park Avenue, a longtime club
project.
Moneys Raised and Donated. A portion of the proceeds will go toward the Greater Cincinnati Master Gardener Association’s Signature Project — the
Purple People Bridge Landscape Project. GCMGA, a non profit organization, launched the project in 2003, and this year, lost a portion of its funding for the project that maintains gardens along the pedestrian bridge where thousands of visitors and residents walk each year. The East Row Garden Club has partnered on the project with the GCMGA
since 2004. A portion also goes toward
beautification projects for the neighborhood and the City of Newport.
2011 Vendors included:
- Generation Hill Winery Inc.
- Greg’s Antiques & Gardens
- Interior Visions
- Ivanka & Andrey Crafts, Beadwork & Jewelry
- Lia Sophia Jewelry
- Out of the Woods
- Pauline Delaney (artist)
- Studio Vertu
- The Trendy Gardener
- Water Beads & More
- Valley of the Daylilies
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