Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 13, 1995 TAG: 9507130008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOANNE ANDERSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
This explains why the corn is "eye-high" by the Fourth of July.
It's "just a fun thing we do," Carolyn Zeigler said of the hundreds of flowers bordering her house and lawn. Begonias, day lilies and feverfew accent the mailbox; clematis frames the front door.
The Zeiglers' home is on this weekend's Friendly Garden Tour, which features six Blacksburg gardens that rival the glossy, color photographs in the finest garden magazines.
Proceeds from the event will help furnish and landscape the renovated and expanded Blacksburg library branch.
The Zeiglers grow sugar snap peas, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and dwarf fruit trees that bear kiwi, pears, nectarines, apples, cherries and plums. Perennials and annuals are planted with evergreens such as the Japanese garden juniper and golden cypress.
It is here that a garden tea will be held Sunday at 4 p.m. Tea and punch will be served with cookies, nuts and a couple of nonsweet treats.
Over in Sara Thorne-Thomsen's yard, raised beds and berms create garden rooms on either side of her brick walkway. Taking the book "The Edible Landscape" to heart, Thorne-Thomsen grows her vegetables next to the flowers.
Tall ornamental grasses and perennials create a semiformal border along the front of the house, and a water garden is nestled among the plantings. A master gardener and president of the New River Valley Master Gardeners Association, Thorne-Thomsen displays more of her green-thumb talents in the back yard.
The whole idea of water gardening takes on new meaning at Phil and Carole Pappas' house. What started as a rock garden and a water garden in a yard with no trees has expanded over the years into a water wonderland.
Water spills from pool to pool of goldfish-inhabited worlds shared with turtles and frogs, lily pads and water grasses. Pathways meander through rocks and boulders that were moved to create the sloping terrain.
Horticulture instructor Elissa Steves used her knowledge and gardening talent effectively to manage her shade garden landscaping after the 1994 ice storms claimed six of her trees. Special species she grows include oak leaf hydrangeas, Siberian weeping peas and hellebores.
Patrick Simpson's love of hiking and the outdoors has been his motivation for having gardens that "give the feeling of being in the woods." Simpson and his wife, Jana Ruble, share the tending of their woodland garden, a rose garden, an herb garden and flower gardens.
"If you're feeling harried," Simpson said, "just sitting outside looking at the colors and shapes [of the landscape] changes your attitude."
Real chickens scratching real dirt is but one of the novelties at Delbert and Johanna Jones' Sunken Acre Farm. A Scottish Highland Cow, pygmy goat, Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, a bronze-breasted turkey, ducks and outdoor guinea pigs are an integral part of the family.
"I moved here from New York City," Johanna Jones explained. "I guess I kind of went wild." She cares for the animals, and Delbert, who grew up on a farm, tends the gardens. The ducks and chickens provide insect control.
Jones grows vegetables in a regular garden, but keeps a little kitchen garden near the back door. An herb deck, a rose collection, perennial beds and a tiny water garden also thrive on the property.
Besides supporting the new library, touring these gardens will provide a real visual experience and some interesting guides for creating unique, personal landscapes for beauty and relaxation.
by CNB