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 The 20th Garden Festival tour, with the theme of “a gardening
legacy,” takes place June 17-18 and includes tours of 10 private
gardens. Hours are 1-8 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday.
The Garden Walk will be held rain or shine.
Tickets are $17 in advance and $7 for anyone under 18. They can be
purchased at
www.DavidDavisMansion.org and many area stores.
The tour showcases a variety of gardens, large and small, including
flower gardens and landscaped yards. Several of the yards
incorporate vegetables and herbs within the flower gardens. All of
them offer creative ideas to inspire anyone with a green thumb.
 The walk’s “Gardening Legacy” theme reflects the support the garden
walk has provided for the restoration and preservation of Sarah
Davis’s unique 1870s garden. “Legacy” also refers to the walk’s
success in raising community awareness of the importance of
gardening.
Over the last two decades, the walk has opened 200 private gardens
to the public and attracted 20,000 visitors, producing $222,000 for
the historic site.
The event also includes a gardeners’ marketplace on the mansion
lawn, complimentary tea and desserts, and tours of the historic
site’s Sarah’s Garden with University of Illinois Extension Master
Gardeners.
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The garden walk begins at the David Davis Mansion, 1000 Monroe Drive,
Bloomington. Easy ticket and map pick-up, with drive-through service and free
parking on the Mansion grounds, is available during the entire event weekend.
For more information, call (309) 828-1084.
The David Davis Mansion State Historic Site was built in 1872 for Supreme Court
Justice David Davis and his wife, Sarah.
The site is open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for free
public tours.
The site is operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. IHPA protects
the state’s historic resources, which contribute to education, culture and the
economy. IHPA sites include ancient burial mounds, forts and buildings erected
by settlers, and homes connected to famous Illinoisans.
[Shanta Thoele, Communications and
Public Affairs, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]
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