The Oxford In Bloom Garden Tour offers garden lovers an opportunity to visit a number of gardens - up close and personal - in and around Oxford, Ohio. The gardens vary from year to year. Some offer mystery, complexity, and seclusion while others offer wonderful vistas and still others humor and delight. Regardless of the setting, you are assured an intimate visit to gardens that reflect the owners’ personalities. It’s a combination that is sure to excite and inspire you as you stroll a woodland path, lean in to smell the perfect rose, or catch a glimpse of that rare plant…..
Below are a list of the gardens that were on tour on June 12th & 13th, 2010.
Kelly Hansel and Ginny Thiell
4223 Main St., Darrtown
Constantly evolving over the past 15 years, this welcoming yard has a little something for everyone − a semi formal mixed front garden, a pool-side container garden for sunny afternoons and evening entertaining, a shaded area for napping and reading, a small herb and vegetable garden celebrating the delights of summer, and plenty of grass for dogs and corn hole games. Almost completely organic, the gardens provide sanctuary and food for birds, butterflies, bats and the occasional toad. Artwork is tucked throughout the borders, notably several pieces from Magaws Studio, a Don Drumm St. Francis, and statues of Summer & Winter.
Tom and Carol Schaber
495 N. Patterson Ave.
Walk back a shady lane on the edge of campus where hostas, hemlocks and hydrangeas abound in a park-like setting where you can experience tranquility as you walk the board walkways and enjoy the gardens and the fun yard art. Rocks and multiple rock walls are featured throughout, one of which is "a DeVore" while the others are Tom's. Broad expanses of periwinkle and ivy plus numerous trees contribute to the lush atmosphere. Tom and Carol have loved living here for over 30 years and rearranging the space as their needs have evolved from having a kids' playground to an empty nesters' retreat.
Barbara and Hugh Clawson
4141 Oxford Reily Rd.
Turning into the Clawson’s driveway, you feel like you’re entering the deep north woods as the drive winds through tall pines, oaks and maples before coming to sunlight and their home. The walk to the front door has a lily and rose garden on one side and a miniature woodland on the other. Across the brick patio, you can step up to the deck which overlooks the pond or take the stone path to the back yard to see the sunny perennial garden. Although deer and other wildlife make gardening a challenge here, no pesticides are used. Cindi Daddabbo installed and still cares for the perennial gardens.
Dick Nault
34 Lantern Ridge Rd.
Multiple environments are the principal challenge and joy of this property. In the front are rather formal beds whose color groupings benefit from being in full sun. Less formal beds and plantings on either side of the house include specimen trees such as paperbark maple and river birch. With the assistance of landscape architect John DeVore, the steep hillside in the back was transformed into terraced gardens edged with amazing rockwork; a meandering rock stairway leads down through the levels to a woodland garden bounded by a gently flowing stream. Plants and habitats that attract and protect birds and butterflies are abundant throughout.
Jimmie and Judith Trent
101 Country Club Lane
Behind the redwood fence, a backyard retreat surrounds a swimming pool. The walls of the fence are covered with decorative artifacts the Trents collected from Mexico and the southwestern part of the United States during their many years of travel to these areas. Tables set throughout the garden reflect yet another of the Trents’ interests − love of entertaining in their summer and fall garden. Many colorful hanging baskets and a variety of annuals in planters create a beautiful and relaxing atmosphere. Look for the spectacular Rose of Sharon bushes on the walkway by the house.
Serene and Jim Miller
156 Stone Creek Drive
The Miller’s English Georgian home features window boxes overflowing with bright wave petunias. Colorful front landscaping draws you through the porte cochere into the charming back gardens. Unusual and lovely decorative garden accessories live in harmony with a variety of annuals and perennials in the expansive backyard. Enjoy a stroll through the quaint herb garden and the butterfly garden. Take a moment to rest on the pergola-covered back deck shaded with a climbing rose or on the bench in the peaceful shade garden. Serene’s love of gardening and Jim’s talent for a perfectly manicured lawn create a great landscape.
Rhonda and J.C. Rupel
134 Stone Creek Drive
Approaching the stone house set back from the pear trees lining the drive, you first notice the intimate, formal courtyard inspired by Williamsburg gardens. When the Rupels built their home in 1994, the grounds were covered with woodland brush and hedge trees. Together they created the gardens, designed and built stone terraces and walls, and created a play-space for their children. Fieldstone steps and pathways lead to a focal point in their shady backyard − clipped boxwood hedges in a four-year-old knot garden (a “must-see” from their awning-covered porch). Through the years, they’ve collected cast iron benches and urns and have planted peonies, roses, alliums, poppies, grapes − and lots of “food” for deer.
Photos of last garden tour