Crestwood Civic Club Garden Tour
Daylilies
adorn landscape
on annual garden tour
Event
to benefit the club's
fundraising efforts
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
CRESTWOOD, Ky. (June 2011) – Nancy Smith is
an avid gardener. With 700 varieties of daylilies in her landscape,
she rarely has time for anything else.
Smith, who lives in Crestwood with her husband, Glenn, said gardening
“is a passion for me.” The couple moved from a 51/2 acre farm
to their present one acre lot in Croftborough Farms and started over
“with a clean slate,” she said.
The Smiths’ brought 500 plants with them to their new home. They
placed the plants in two holding beds until permanent beds could be
built on their new property.
The first bed they built was a hosta bed beneath a huge oak tree. Smith
likes hostas because “you almost can’t kill them. They’re
easy to grow; there’s not a ton of maintenance to grow them.”
But for Smith, “I really love the daylilies,” she said. She
will soon be registered as a daylily garden. To keep everything orderly,
she has labeled all of her lilies with unobtrusive green markers.
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Photo
by Helen E. McKinney Nancy
Smith has more than |
Many of the beds are organized according to the plants’
names. Smith has a memorial bed she planted in memory of her parents,
Jim and Claire Purcell. Daylilies in this bed have names like Claire
Isabel, Clairvoyant Lady, Jim’s Song and Jim’s Pick.
A Christian-themed bed has plants with names such as Ezekiel, Open my
Eyes, DeColores, Wings of Faith and Morning Prayer. A food-themed bed
contains one of Smith’s favorite daylilies, Milk Chocolate.
Smith’s gardens are one of three on this year’s Crestwood
Civic Club’s Garden Tour & Luncheon. Held from 10 a.m. until
2:30 p.m. Friday, June 17, proceeds from this tour benefit their Oldham
County Schools Scholarship Fund.
Two different lunch seatings will be held at 11 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. A
plant sale will be held at the Clubhouse located at 7215 Kavanaugh Rd.
in Crestwood.
Smith mixes things up and adds color by blending in spirea, mums, lilac
iris, knockout roses, wisteria, holly, crepe myrtle, peony and euonymus
among old and new, hybridized daylilies. “Knockout roses are a
great statement piece,” Smith said.
She also “tries to find unusual things” to place among the
plants, such as garden art in the form of a bright blue peacock and
decorative metal roosters. A fountain in the front of her yard and an
arch containing wisteria in a backyard bed add artistic elements to
the lush, green landscape.
Included on the tour will be Pat and Bob Nevitt’s gardens. Their
home was on the 2009 Crestwood Civic Club Christmas House Tour. The
Nevitts have a variety of trees in their landscape, such as kousa dogwood,
fringe tree, tulip popular, purple beach, weeping cherry, holly and
sycamore. A waterfall and pond add to the beautiful atmosphere they
have created.
Bev and Al Phillips’ gardens round out the garden tour. Their 10-acre
property is surrounded by mature trees, hostas, daylilies, ferns, iris,
tree peony and a variety of perennials. A bamboo grove, natural waterfall
and koi-goldfish pond show off their gardening capabilities.
• Contact Anne Murner for ticket information at (502) 292-2701.