|
|
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
|
|
LET IT REIGN Despite wet weather, Bridges of Hope garden tour a winner Staff Writer NISSWA - It wasn't the perfect day to tour gardens in the Brainerd lakes area Thursday, what with the pouring rain. But that didn't keep nearly 70 people from the second annual Bridges of Hope Blooms: A Summer Garden Tour.
Tami Lueck, Bridges of Hope executive director, was pleased with this year's turnout, doubled from last year. Despite the weather, everyone was in good spirits and, according to Lueck, attendees said they most likely would be back again next year. Lueck said the homeowners also were accommodating by supplying garbage bags to attendees - for shelter from the rain - and cookies and coffee were offered.
Proceeds from the tour will help cover the nonprofit's operational costs for families and children in the Brainerd lakes area who are in a crisis situation. Last year, Bridges of Hope served 1,500 households.
|
|
|
|
Part of the memorial garden at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa. The garden was one of five featured Thursday in the second annual Bridges of Hope Blooms: A Summer Garden Tour.
Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
There were five gardens on the summer tour, each with their own personality:
¥ The Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa's memorial garden. The garden includes a memorial wall that honors the memories of loved ones who belonged to the church. A winding, colored asphalt path guided attendees to a few perennial and annual patches that surround trees and then to a double waterfall that is surrounded by flowers, hostas and shrubs. The waterfalls were added for beauty and to reduce sound from the highway.
|
|
|
|
Bob and Jeanne Larson's garden in northeast Brainerd was one of five featured in the second annual Bridges of Hope Blooms: A Summer Garden Tour. Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
¥ Dale and Sue Hadland's gardens on Perch Lake in Baxter. The Hadlands began creating their garden 30 years ago with one bed of petunias and it has since grown to several gardens located throughout their yard. Highlights include a stone fireplace with a chimney next to a patio area, a long and narrow waterfall surrounded by perennials, a golfing green and a greenhouse with exotic orchids. Also on the property: a shade garden, perennials, roses and a miniature conifer collection.
¥ Bob and Jeanne Larson's garden in northeast Brainerd. The Larsons' garden was formerly a church parking lot and neighborhood baseball field located on two city lots. The garden now entails a planting of Arbor Vitae on the south and west borders of the property. There is a fish pond with two waterfalls and a small wooden bridge, concrete pathways lead to various flower gardens and there's an arched arbor with a gateway entrance that leads to one pathway lined on both sides with day lilies, ending at a circular garden.
|
|
|
|
This garden patch is one of several gardens at Peg Schoening's home in rural Nisswa. Her gardens were recently featured in the second annual Bridges of Hope Blooms: A Summer Garden Tour. Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
¥ Mike and Shirley Rempe's garden on Upper Gull Lake in Lake Shore. The Rempes' gardens include a collection of annuals, perennials, flowering shrubs and wildflowers. A waterfall flows into a pond and boulders are utilized throughout the property. The central feature of the property, a statue called "Evolving Doves," includes a poem inscription, written by daughter Erika when she was in fifth grade. Erika was killed in a motor vehicle accident in 2001 and the statue is a tribute to her life.
|
|
|
|
One of several gardens scattered throughout Dale and Sue Hadland's property in Baxter, which was recently featured on the second annual Bridges of Hope Blooms: A Summer Garden Tour. Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
¥ Peg Schoening's garden on North Long Lake in rural Nisswa began five years ago, and today she is working on phase six. Her garden, made up of 95 percent perennials, includes hostas, bleeding hearts, irises, lilies, poppies, ferns and day lilies. There also is a waterfall and several signs, including one that reads, "Leave room in your garden for the angels to dance."
|
|
|
|
This waterfall and stream is located in front of Mike and Shirley Rempe's home in Lake Shore. Their garden was one of five recently featured on the second annual Bridges of Hope Blooms: A Summer Garden Tour.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
To Subscribe to the Brainerd Dispatch, Click Here.
Note: Comments are not edited and don't represent the views of The Brainerd Dispatch. Please read our posting rules in the terms of service policy. To report a post that may be inappropriate, click the triangle alert icon.
|
|
|
|
Thinking about a New Job?
These employers want you!
|
Loading...
|
|
|
Today's Best Classifieds:
|
|
|
|
|
|
