Posted: 7/9/03

Fairview auxiliary garden tour is July 20

Tickets are now on sale for the Fairview Lakes Regional Auxiliary Garden tour, this year scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 20.

Gardens featured are in Chisago City, Scandia, Forest Lake, Wyoming, North Branch and Stacy. The auxiliary invites everyone who loves flowers and gardens to enjoy the tour and a pleasant Sunday drive. Tourgoers are invited to bring a camera to take photographs.

Maps and garden tour passes can be purchased in advance at the Auxiliary Gift Shop at Fairview Lakes Regional Medical Center in Wyoming, at Fairview Lakes medical clinics in North Branch, Rush City, Lino Lakes and Chisago City and at the Yellow Bus in Forest Lake. Maps and passes will be available at the medical center in Wyoming from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the day of the tour. Cost is $8 per adult.

Following is a brief description of gardens to be toured:

StacyóA 40-foot weeping willow ringed by 2,000 multi-colored impatiens sets the mood for touring these gardens. A path of homemade steppingstones leads to a bench where elves overlook the shaded grounds. In another corner, a birch bark bench invites one to rest and savor the aroma of lilies, asters, mums, phlox and hydrangea.

Forest LakeóVisitors will enjoy three gardens in the Forest Lake area. The first home boasts a large front lawn, a perennial garden and a new pond and patio featuring handcrafted willow furniture set amid daylily, primrose, geranium, vinca minor and perennial flax.

At a second Forest Lake home you will meander through a cottage garden that features a small pond complete with goldfish and backyard gardens with a gazebo, two small water ponds and a rose garden.

The third stop in Forest Lake, a log home, provides a view of the lake from a woodland garden nestled around a quaint shed with shade plants and sitting areas placed among the hosta. Here visitors will also find a courtyard style flower garden, a kitchen garden, and outdoor resting and cooking areas.

WyomingóRetaining walls and steps have been used to work with the natural landscape of this yard. Once overrun by wild raspberry bushes, the backyard is now rich with perennials and annuals designed to provide color throughout the season in both sun and shade gardens.

Chisago CityóEnter the Victorian rose garden in front of this house through an arbor covered with climbing roses and view tea roses, floribunda, miniature and climbing roses. Tour the many perennial gardens and stroll through a handmade natural arbor covered with trumpet vine to the shaded pond area where you find hosta, sedum, astilbe, coral bells and ferns.

ScandiaóThe front garden of this home is surrounded by a white picket fence with trellises and arbors. A semishade garden features a gazebo, pond, birdbaths and statuary. In the backyard, visitors will come upon a Victorian playhouse, a wishing well, pond, fountain and bench arbor built for two. Flowerbeds and benches surround a croquet court. There is also a gift shop.

North BranchóTwo gardens are featured in North Branch. In the first an arbor covered in wisteria that will lead you from the herb garden to the main gardens surrounded by a fence. To the right of the main garden are the shade garden and a Japanese garden set in the woods. Feel free to sit and rest in one of the many little nooks or enjoy the water garden near the house.

The second North Branch garden is found on a two-acre wooded lot covered with mature oak, maple, white pine and spruce. A 40-foot mixed perennial bed borders the drive. The yard contains over 100 varieties of hosta, a terraced perennial garden and sun gardens with several interesting specimen plants.

For more information about the tour, call 651-462-4845. Proceeds of the tour go to the Auxiliaryís many projects to enhance community health and patient care.

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