“Unexpected Delights!” in the Bloomington-Normal Area
22nd Annual Glorious Garden Festival Garden Walk June 15-16

[June 08, 2018] 

BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL

Garden lovers can put on their walking shoes June 15-16 and discover some unexpectedly delightful gardens in the Bloomington-Normal area during the 22nd annual Glorious Garden Festival Garden Walk. The walk is a fundraiser for the David Davis Mansion Foundation, which provides private support for the David Davis Mansion State Historic Site in Bloomington.

This year’s Garden Walk offers walk-through tours of nine private gardens in the Bloomington-Normal area. Hours are 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, June 15, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 16. The Garden Walk will be held rain or shine.

Tickets may be purchased in advance at a discounted price at Beyond Normal, The Garlic Press, and Schnucks Supermarket in Normal, and at Casey’s Garden Shop and Florist, Crossroads Handicrafts, Growing Grounds Garden Center and Florist, McLean County Museum of History, Schnucks Supermarket in Bloomington, Wendell Niepagen Greenhouses and Garden Center, the David Davis Mansion Visitors’ Center in Bloomington, and online at www.daviddavismansion.org. Full price tickets may be purchased the weekend of the event at the David Davis Mansion.

The theme of this year’s Garden Walk is “Unexpected Delights!” As is often the case, when you walk by a home, you may have no idea of what delights are hidden in back of the home. The event will have a variety of gardens that were do-it-yourself gardens, and some that have had help from professional landscapers. All the gardens and yards will give garden walkers creative ideas they can use in their own homes. Garden owners and staff representing local landscape sponsors may be on hand to provide expertise and insights in some of the gardens. Visitors are sure to be inspired by the creativity of some of the community’s most talented gardeners.

This popular annual event helps provide the long-term financial support needed for the restoration and preservation of Sarah Davis’s unique 1870s garden. The Garden Walk helps to raise community awareness of the importance of gardening. Over the last two decades, the walk has opened more than 200 private gardens to the public and attracted more than 20,000 visitors.

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-through service and free parking on the Mansion grounds, are available during the entire event weekend. Once the maps have been picked up, garden walkers are encouraged to visit Sarah’s Garden and shop at the vendors’ market place on the mansion lawn, featuring a variety of vendors and non-profit organizations.

Visitors can also enjoy complimentary tea and desserts served under a tent on the mansion lawn. Members of the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners in McLean County will conduct tours of Sarah’s Garden, and visitors can learn from these experts how to design their own Victorian gardens using heirloom plants from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and other famous American gardens. Walk-thru tours of the Davis Mansion will also be offered. At that point, the garden walkers can head out to see the private gardens at their own pace. The tickets are good for both days, so participants can travel at their own pace and see some gardens on Friday and the remainder on Saturday.

Corporate sponsors for the Glorious Garden Festival are Casey’s Garden Shop and Florist, Chizmar Landscaping, Curtis 1000, Green View Companies, Growing Grounds Garden Center and Florist, Neuhoff Media Bloomington, Serenity Creek Design and Landscaping, Inc., State Farm Bank, Sunburst Nursery/Penn Landscaping, Wendell Niepagen Greenhouses and Garden Center, WJBC AM 1230, and Zimmerman and Armstrong Investment Advisors, Inc. Supporting sponsors include Busey and the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Proceeds from this year's event will support preservation of the historic Sarah’s Garden, an ongoing project that involves research and the reintroduction of difficult-to-find heirloom plants and seeds. Proceeds will also be used to fund science-based, school field trip programs utilizing the garden, and will help keep the mansion open to the public.

The David Davis Mansion State Historic Site, administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, 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.

[Jeff Saulsbery]