When Bob and Nancy Garver moved into their Maxtown Road home six years ago, the yard was little more than grass.
Now, a massive collection of flowers, plants and decorations – including a couple of garden rooms – makes it one of the most eye-catching gardens in the city, as evidenced by its appearance on the 2013 WesterFlora Garden Tour.
The Garver garden was among 13 on this year’s tour on July 21.
The couple complemented the natural grass with eclectic and poignant colors, highlighting every feature and creating a majestic backdrop for the back yard through garden rooms – outdoor areas decorated to resemble indoor rooms. One is outfitted with a bench and open ceiling beams with a chandelier.
There are many standout sections within the hazy maze of beautiful, bright flowers such as peppermint phlox, spider flowers and sage. The peppermint phlox resemble after-meal restaurant mints; the spider flowers change shapes throughout the day and reseed themselves over time.
The Garvers take pride in their hard work, but as this was the first year their yard has appeared in the showcase, they were excited to be able to expose their dedicated hobby and make a mark on the garden tour for years to come.
“Flowering is close to God,” says Nancy. “I love nature; it’s flowers, it’s birds, it’s butterflies, it’s everything He made. It’s relaxing, it’s peaceful, it’s full of joy out here. We’ve never done the garden tour in our lives and we won a blue ribbon for the top butterfly garden.”
In addition to flowers of countless colors, the Garver garden is dotted with potted plants, benches, yard furniture and sculptures. An elaborate trellis leads into a paved area with a table and chairs just outside the back door.
“When we first moved here six years ago, this was all grass. That’s all,” Nancy says. “So I went to a nursery and asked if she could show me what to do. She drew the basic idea out on paper, we put it into practice.”
The delicate flowers contrast with the tough work it took to get them all in place and looking gorgeous.
“Many, many hours go into maintaining this garden,” Nancy says. “You could spend six hours a day out here. And every year, we expand and make our own ideas.”
Nancy’s artistic mind helped her plan out the garden, but she uses it for more than just yard work – she is also a published writer. She was giving away copies of her book Finally Free: God’s Timing For An Only Son’s Life, which recently won third place in the Christian Living category of the 2012 Christian Book Awards, at WesterFlora.
The book revolves around her son’s life and death from brain cancer at the age of 16 and how her religion helped her and her family cope in the aftermath of the tragedy.
David Allen is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
