Decatur, Georgia invites garden enthusiasts to harvest ideas and inspiration during its 2007 Garden Tour. The Decatur Preservation Alliance (DPA) and Oakhurst Community Garden Project (OCGP) are in partnership to host the annual event, which takes place Saturday, September 29 and Sunday, September 30, 2007.

A variety of gardens is featured, including eight private gardens throughout Decatur, and six public or semi-public gardens. A private garden highlight is the bonsai garden of award-winning expert Cozart Smith.

Public and semi-public gardens include internationally-recognized garden designer Ryan Gainey’s garden, the Oakhurst Community Garden, Woodlands Garden, Scott Community Garden, Glenn Lake Nature Preserve, and the 54-acre Decatur Cemetery.

Programming for adults and children is featured throughout the weekend, including native plant walks, cooking demonstrations, storytelling, outdoor painting and more. A schedule of events is included below. Tickets will also include a designated bike route.
Woodlands’ Master gardener Ruby Bock, who leads the garden selection committee, says that this autumn garden tour “can give people who might have a spring-focused garden a good opportunity to see the great blooms of the fall, which include asters, goldenrod, Japanese anemone and other, later-blooming botanicals.”
Events planned for the weekend are listed by day and venue:

Saturday, September 29
Smith Bonsai Garden
216 Fairview Avenue
10:15 a.m.
Cozart Smith, bonsai master, gives an informal talk on bonsai in his garden.

Historic Decatur Cemetery
Commerce Street Entrance
11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Tours of the cemetery conducted by guides in period costume
Ongoing
Cookies and lemonade served in the Gazebo

Oakhurst Community Garden
435 Oakview Road
1:00 p.m.
Performance by the drumming group Conundrum
4:00 p.m.
Chef Billy Allin, a local Decatur chef, demonstrates cooking with fresh, locally grown produce.
Ongoing
Plant Sale ongoing during Garden Tour hours
Docent Tours on the hour, last guided tour begins 4 p.m.

Ryan Gainey’s Garden
129 Emerson Avenue
11:15 a.m.
A Walk with Ryan Gainey—“A to Z of Plants”
2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Flautist Lynette Suzanne performs Native American music.

Woodlands
920 Scott Boulevard
11:00 a.m. (meet at Decatur Preservation Alliance office)
David Funderburk leads a walk-and-talk on Woodlands’ native trees, shrubs and wildflowers.
1:00 p.m. (Woodlands amphitheatre)
Steve Sanchez presents his native piedmont garden plan for Woodlands.
Ongoing
Docent tours of Woodlands

Scott Community Garden
231 Sycamore Street
2:00 p.m.
Children enjoy a tour and scavenger hunt in the garden, ending with a fun plant project: draw a face and plant it with grass seed. When the seed comes up it will represent hair which they can cut and style with scissors!

Sunday, September 30
Smith Bonsai Garden
216 Fairview Avenue
12:15 p.m.
Cozart Smith, bonsai master, gives an informal talk on bonsai in his garden.
Historic Decatur Cemetery
Commerce Street Entrance
3:00 p.m.
Tours of the cemetery conducted by guides in period costume
Ongoing
Cookies and lemonade served in the Gazebo

Oakhurst Community Garden
435 Oakview Road
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Children will enjoy a variety of activities that celebrate the essence of fall using materials found in the garden.
Ongoing
Plant Sale ongoing during Garden Tour hours
Docent Tours on the hour, last guided tour begins 4 p.m.

Ryan Gainey’s Garden
129 Emerson Avenue
1:00 – 2:45 p.m.
Harp and wind duo Fionnuala performs.

Woodlands
920 Scott Boulevard
1:00 p.m. (Woodlands amphitheatre)
Melissa & Jerome Walker present “Creating Your Own Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary.”
Ongoing
Docent tours of Woodlands

Scott Community Garden
231 Sycamore Street
2:00 p.m.
Karen Lindauer of the Georgia Native Plant Society presents “Using Native Plants in Containers and Small Gardens.” Native plants are especially adapted to survive in our heat and humidity and are being increasingly used in landscapes throughout the region.

McConaughey Garden
393 The Falls, Atlanta
1:00 – 2:45 p.m.
Harp and wind duo Fionnuala performs.

Tickets, on sale at local businesses and at www.decaturgardentour.com beginning in September, are $15.00 in advance and $20.00 during the tour weekend. Proceeds from the event will be shared between the two organizations, and will support their operations and programs.

Dates and Hours: Saturday, September 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, September 30 from noon to 5 p.m. On the web: www.decaturgardentour.com.

The Oakhurst Community Garden Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving community greenspace and cultivating the next generation of environmental stewards.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Decatur Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.