Holmes Garden Tour is beauty off the beaten path
One of the stops on the Holmes Garden Tour, scheduled for Saturday, June 26, is at the home of Ruth and John Waltman in Millersburg. Tucked behind a couple of condos, the visitor will find a perennial garden (with a few annuals) planted to entice hummingbirds and butterflies.
The Holmes County Friends and Neighbors of OneEighty will host a garden tour on Saturday, June 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The rain date will be Sunday, June 27 from noon to 6 p.m.
Eight gardens will be featured on the tour — some people frequently drive by and others people never see unless invited. Some are small, others large, but all are beautiful and well maintained. There also will be a silent auction that includes garden-related items.
A map of retail stores in Historic Downtown Millersburg will be provided with the garden tour map. Many of the shops and restaurants will offer a percentage off their merchandise if people show their garden tour ticket, so visitors will get to stop, shop and grab a bite to eat between gardens.
Tickets are $20 and available at Rodhe’s IGA on Glenn Drive in Millersburg, Commercial Savings Bank at 91 S. Clay St. in Millersburg and 4587 state Route 39 in Berlin, Killbuck Savings Bank at 165 N. Main St. in Killbuck, and the OneEighty website at www.one-eighty.org. All proceeds will go directly to OneEighty, which provides services to assist victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, substance abuse and addiction, and mental health and housing support.
The list of gardens includes the following:
Kate and Dave Findley
This garden is situated high on a hill where visitors will see a beautiful view of Millersburg. There are designated walking paths people will be able to walk and note the native Ohio trees the Findleys have planted since building there 16 years ago. Benches will be available to sit on to enjoy the view and the flower beds surrounding the house.
Summer and Jonathan Mast
The Mast home and gardens are on a secluded hill just south of Millersburg with gardens surrounding the house. Visitors will enjoy water features including two fountains and a waterfall. Foundation stones line the upper area of the yard along with shrubs, flowers, hanging baskets, container gardens and a tepee decorated with flower arrangements. People can walk onto the deck and into the screened porch full of succulents and house plants. They also might want to meander through the barnyard and mingle with the miniature horses and pygmy goats.
Tammy and Mike Miller
On top of a hill outside Killbuck, the Millers enjoy a beautiful view and have created a delightful garden spot. There is a native foundation stone wall along a path leading to the back of the house. There are planter boxes filled with flowers, phlox, spiderwort, limelight, black elderberry lace, a strawberry sundae hydrangea, loose strife, honey suckle and hostas. There are vegetable plants and two pumpkin patches that will produce a variety of pumpkins in the fall. The Millers have a goldfish pond with a waterfall they built themselves where water lilies bloom. Be sure to check out the bog at the top of the fountain, created to eliminate algae from the pond. The fence and sheds also were built by Mike Miller.
Eleanor and Bill Runyan
Just off state Route 39 west of Millersburg, the Runyans have outlined their yard and woods with garden beds. Ornamental grasses, perennials, hydrangeas and hostas are the plants most seen (if the deer haven’t eaten them). Several varieties of cone flowers, bee balm and blooming shrubs are found in the flower bed along the yard. Hostas, ferns, heurchera and other shade plants are in beds along the woods. People can sit under the tiki hut and rest for a bit if they have time.
Marlene and Mark Mullet
The Mullets’ home is nestled among their Amish neighbors between Berlin and Walnut Creek. The area around the house has mostly shade gardens along with cottage style, rock and alpine gardens. Their yard flourishes with flower beds, outlined with natural stones and filled with perennials, shrubs, evergreens and native plants that grow naturally in the wood. There is something blooming all the time. Some of the unique plants are autumn frost hostas, hellebore, brunnera-variegated and green, lamium, corydalis, snake lips, pulmonaria, big ears lamb’s ear, and epimedium. Raised beds near Marlene Mullet’s greenhouse feature vegetables and cut flowers. Along the drive is an alpine garden landscaped with large stones and sedums, rock crests. People are welcome to view the large collection of house plants and tropical plants that thrive on their shaded porches during the summer. Walk around the house to view porcelain berry, Virginia creeper and Boston ivy vines growing up the fence.
Ellie and Hans Ramseyer
Located at the very end of the road, the Ramseyers’ garden plots, divided by native natural foundation stones, thrive with vegetables such as onions, asparagus, potatoes, corn, lettuce, spinach and beets, as well as fruits like strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Herbs grow in another section: garlic, oregano and rosemary. Depending on what’s ripe/ready, Hans Ramseyer will share his produce the day of the tour.
Ruth and John Waltman
Tucked behind a couple of condos, the visitor will find a perennial garden (with a few annuals) planted to entice hummingbirds and butterflies. A dozen milkweed plants, numerous nectar-producing flowering species and some “puddling” areas make this a certified monarch butterfly garden. While people are there, they can take some time to find the hidden fairy garden. One doesn’t need a large area to have a beautiful garden. Park adjacent to the ball fields on Glen Drive.
Angie and Tom Yoder
Just northwest of Berlin, the gardens at the Yoders have evolved through 16 years of plantings, transplantings and simple plant removal. The yard has a variety of beds, in full sun, as well as deep shade. As people walk through, they will find flowering trees, shrubs and perennials mixed together. Many of the perennials reseed themselves and come out in a variety of sites around the beds. While Angie Yoder enjoys working in the beds, Tom has created a garden in front of the house that is reminiscent of colonial gardens. People will find raised beds filled with herbs, salad vegetables and a variety of tomatoes. A recent addition the Yoders took on as a project is a shade walk including a walking path through a small woods filled with ferns, hostas, heurchera, hellebore and many other shade plants. Peeking through the plants, people will find plenty of gnomes hiding as they wait to be found.