 This year's event provides walk-through tours of 11 private gardens,
all within convenient driving distance from one another. The garden
walk will take place rain or shine. The hours are 1-8 p.m. June 21
and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. June 22.
This year's theme is "A Community of Gardens." From the whimsical
to the classical, the gardens offer an abundance of flowers, water
features, garden art and unique plants. The tour features a
showstopping garden in a wooded area once owned by the family that
built Ewing Manor. Other stops are a Victorian-style house featuring
architectural plants and perennials, layered with a virtuosic use of
annuals and tropicals; a double-lot garden designed with thoughtful
transitions from indoor to outdoor living spaces; a lovely woodsy
garden; and much more.
Staff representing local landscape sponsors will be on hand to
provide expertise and insights. Rain or shine, visitors will be
inspired by the creativity of some of the community's most talented
gardeners.
The walk is a fundraiser for the David Davis Mansion Foundation,
which provides private support for the state-operated historic site.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 the weekend of the event and $7
for anyone under 18. The tickets may be purchased in advance at the
Garlic Press and Schnucks Supermarket in Normal, and at Casey's
Garden Shop, the Copy Shop, Grieder Sod and Landscaping, Schnucks
Supermarket, Sunburst Nursery/Penn Landscaping, Wendell Niepagen
Greenhouses, and the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington.
Tickets may also be purchased
online
at
www.daviddavismansion.org or at the David Davis Mansion the
weekend of the event.
The garden walk begins on the grounds of the David Davis Mansion
at 1000 Monroe Drive in Bloomington. Easy ticket and map pickup,
with drive-thru service and free parking on the mansion grounds, is
available during the entire event weekend.
Garden walk participants may also shop at the gardening
marketplace on the mansion lawn. Some of the vendors and artisans
taking part are All Glass Flowers, Green View Landscaping, Ecology
Action Center, Fused Glass, Jim's Ornamental Garden Iron and craft
demonstrations by Joe Ramholz.
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 Visitors can enjoy complimentary tea and desserts served under a
tent on the mansion lawn. Tours of Sarah's Garden will be conducted
by members of the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners
in McLean County, and visitors can learn from these experts how to
make their own Victorian gardens using heirloom plants from Thomas
Jefferson's Monticello and other famous American gardens. Guided
tours of the Davis Mansion will also be offered. WJBC-AM and FM will
do a live remote broadcast from the lawn of the Davis Mansion during
the garden walk.
Corporate sponsors for the Glorious Garden Festival are Casey's
Garden Shop, Chizmar Landscaping, Green View Companies, Grieder Sod
& Landscaping, Original Smith Printing, Solid Ground Gardening,
Sunburst Nursery/Penn Landscaping, Wendell Niepagen Greenhouses and
Garden Center, WJBC-AM 1230 & FM 93.7, and Zimmerman & Armstrong
Investment Advisors Inc.
Over the past 16 years, more than 16,000 visitors have toured
Bloomington-Normal's most beautiful private gardens, generating
nearly $186,000 for the nonprofit David Davis Mansion Foundation.
Proceeds from this year's event will support restoration of the
historic Sarah's Garden, a long-term project that involves research
and the reintroduction of difficult-to-find heirloom plants and
seeds. Proceeds will also be used to develop new school programs
featuring the garden and to help keep the mansion open to the
public.
The
David Davis Mansion State Historic Site, administered by the
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, was built in 1872 for Supreme
Court Justice David Davis and his wife, Sarah. The site is open
Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for free public
tours.
[Text from file received from the
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency] |
