Mark your calendars! This year’s “Madison in Bloom” garden tour features a lineup of terrific gardens within Madison, Indiana‘s National Historic Landmark District. Ticket holders will tour seven gardens of privately owned homes dotted throughout the historic downtown and surrounding the Main Street shopping and dining area. The garden tour is two consecutive weekends on Saturday and Sunday, June 8-9 and 15-16. There’s plenty of opportunity to enjoy this popular event!
This week I had the opportunity to chat with most of this year’s garden owners, learn a little about their gardening styles and philosophies, and see what they’re up to as they prepare for this year’s tour. Each site reflects the personalities of the owners, and the outdoor spaces beautifully compliment their homes. One thing is certain – all of the homeowners enjoy their garden spaces. Let’s meet the homeowners who are opening their gardens to us next month!
OLSON GARDEN. Margo & Jim Olson are a fun-loving couple who appreciate beautiful things and love to entertain in their outdoor space. Jim refers to Margo as “the garden stylist” and defines his role as overseeing necessary upkeep! As you can see – it takes a team. Their home features a classic garden with clean geometry, symmetry and crisp lines. Plantings are diverse as the garden has areas of shade, dappled sunlight, and full sun. Perrenials dominate, accented with annuals. A unique feature to this garden is the use of ornamental trees & shrubs – a Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick, a giant Japanese Maple, an unusual Weeping Birch, and a heavily productive apricot tree. Beyond the ornamnental garden gate, the courtyard garden area comprises the side yard of the house and continues on to and wrap the rear of the home. They’ll be hosting a friend’s retirement party later this month, so we’re sure to see a beautifully maintained garden area!
LAKEMAN-COOLEY GARDEN. Randy Lakeman & Mark Cooley bought their home in 2018 and jumped head first into their “trial and error” gardening project. Mark favors the cottage garden vibe with its informal natural look. It may appear random, but is not haphazard, drawing you in as you walk the limestone lined paths and listen to the soothing sounds of the stone water fall feature. Mark calls the front garden space “a dabblers garden” and enjoys mixing annuals, perrenials and hanging baskets, accenting with bright pops of color – plants and ceramic pots. He admits the colorful pots might be a bit of an addiction! Randy leaves the flowers to Mark, preferring to maintain the herb garden for his love of cooking. Following the path to the rear of the house you’ll find a charming garden shed facing a quiet patio – perfect for casual entertainment or relaxation after a day at work!
WENNING GARDEN. Linda & Jim Wenning may have downsized their living space to a Mid-Century Ranch home in recent years, but they managed to bring a host of favorite plants along with them to their new downtown location! Linda’s friends say she can grow anything, and she loves to mix-n-match varieties to create interest. She tends her plantings like a family, watching them as they grow season after season, making sure they’re in an ideal location. And if they need to move, Jim is right there to make it happen! They’ve moved wild geranium from a former home in Tennessee, gathered starts from friends’ gardens, and rehomed Linda’s mother’s coral bells and flowering almond. Don’t miss the Fine Line Buckthorns, Starry Starry Night Hibiscus, and Pigsqueak! Linda & Jim are orchestrating a lifelong “work in progress” and the joy in the process is evident.
DIERDORF GARDEN. When Jim & Sandy Dierdorf bought their home, they embarked on a lengthy labor of love to reclaim a terribly overgrown thicket of a yard and transform it into a tranquil oasis of lush green. Sandy says she has the vision and Jim has the know-how! They opened up the enclosed veranda, discovered & uncovered gas lamp lights, extended the patio, relocated air conditioning units, and removed unsightly plants, adding two outdoor dining and seating areas beyond the veranda. Sandy envisioned a “southern courtyard” with year-round greens like holly, boxwoods, conifers, and gardenia punctuated with Boston ferns and perrenials of various & varigated shades of green. The strong, clean contrast of black ironwork & wicker against the white brick house is the perfect backdrop for the striking foliage. They’re proud of their results and continue to enjoy working in the yard. Next on the list? Fresh mulch for the tour!
PITTMAN GARDEN. Linda & Mike Pittman, backdoor neighbors of the Dierdorfs, have creatively used hedges, ornametal trees, and ironwork in their setting, as well as geodes & creek rocks from their farm. Linda prefers a simple landscape style that draws the eye toward their beautifully restored home, and she loves to incorporate interesting ironwork lights & lanterns accents. Mike is the rockhound, scavenging the farm and creeks for rock to add texture to their landscape – and he’s working on adding more in preparation for the tour. They’ve created two relaxing outdoor living spaces, one on each side of their home, and they enjoy spending time in both. Large woody & deciduous Dutchman’s Pipe vines flank the columns of the north side portico that features two comfortable seating areas and a porch swing. Accenting the brick patio on the south side of the home is an iron bistro table with four auction find soda fountain chairs, two of the home’s four white dogwood trees, and a whimsical corner gardenscape.
POWELL-MILLER GARDEN. Twenty years in the making, the Powell-Miller garden is an intimate urban retreat. Inspired by the downtown gardens of New Orleans, Charleston and Savannah, David Powell & Brad Miller turned a poorly draining grassy slope at the rear of their Federal home into a quiet, shady hideaway. With a just-completed built-in garden storage unit added to the wrought iron dining and seating areas, the space feels like another room of the house. The only difference with this “room” is that it’s lined with a giant Weeping Norway Spruce, a wall-mounted water fountain surrounded by boxwood and yew shrubs, two large Japanese maple trees, a wall of climbing wisteria, and a large rhododendron! David’s moss growing challege is underway in a corner of the garden, an herb garden of pots runs along the side of the house on the alley, and several metal sculptures add to the whimsy of both garden spaces. And there’s more! Several new plants are waiting for placement both front and back.
COURTNEY GARDEN. Tammy & Bob Courtney’s yard features a variety of trees and shrubs surrounding their two-story home – Japanese maple, boxwood, euonymous, blue spruce, and spirea, to name a few! A covered spot to watch “life on Main Street”, the front porch is a perfect gathering space. The garden area to the rear of the 1920s era home is an area any family would enjoy, with a hot tub under a gazebo, dining and socializing areas positioned behind the enclosed porch and upper veranda. With very busy lives, Tammy (a nurse) and Bob (Madison’s Mayor) make good use of their comfortable outdoor space and look forward to welcoming you to their relaxing setting.
“Madison in Bloom” tour tickets are $30 and good for both weekends, with early bird price of $25/ticket available until May 22nd. Children under 12 are free. Tour is not handicap accessible. The Madison in Bloom Ticket contains description of each garden as well as a map. The ticket is not available as an online printable version.
Follow the garden tour on Facebook @MadisonInBloomGardenTour
Madison in Bloom is an event sponsored by the Jefferson County Historical Society
812-265-2335 or 800-559-2956 info@jchshc.org
