Showcase Gardens Run Gamut From Tranquil to Rocky

'Through the Garden Gate' Tour Marks 11th Year Saturday

Last updated Wednesday, May 30, 2007 4:35 PM CDT in Your Home

BY THE MORNING NEWS

844 Blue Springs Road in Goshen

Sandy Twiggs and George Dombek

When George Dombek purchased this 6-acre property in 1982, it had only one tree, a walnut, which allowed the alfalfa to grow. Dombek, an artist, had almost a blank slate on which to create his own garden, so two years later he began planting. He began with loblolly pine seedlings, and within 10 years he had added many more pines. In 1994 he designed and built the house and began planting other trees, such as sycamore, dogwood, willow oak, hemlock, black gum and Japanese maple, as well as flowering shrubs, bulbs and perennials.

The three guiding concepts of the planting were rooms with views, visual privacy and layered spaces with moving grids. Almost all of the trees, shrubs and flowers are secondary to open spaces which will continue to be developed as outdoor rooms for people, unique modern sculpture and natural boulders. Dombek's art studio has a tall atrium in which are four clumps of bamboo that now almost reach the two-story glass ceiling.

BONUS: Joanne Sorn of Between the Rivers Nursery will be selling plants at this garden. She will donate a percentage of proceeds to FGNS.

Tranquil Gardens

231 E. Dickson St. in Fayetteville

Jenny and Richard Alexander

The Alexanders purchased their home in 1991 and considered it "a real diamond in the rough with a lot of potential." Richard constructed rock walls and garden beds in the front yard, and Jenny cultivated the ground and planted shrubs and ground covers. They continued to gradually build their garden and included beds on the west side until they eventually made their way to the back yard. As you enter the back yard you will see rock patios that terrace down to lower garden levels. On the east side of home, natural stone pathways meander alongside the natural creek and lead to the lowest level. (Please use caution while walking on the stone pathways; good walking shoes will help.)

BONUS: Homemade cookies by FGNS members.

Water and Rocks

1645 Boulder Drive in Springdale

Michelle and Dennis Boles

As Michelle says, "What makes this site unique are not the gardens themselves, but the natural settings in which the gardens exist. Boulders and rocks are strewn throughout the property (three parts rock, one part soil). Spring-fed ponds and seepages provide the catalysts for two water features." Visitors will see plants such as mahonias, umbrella magnolias, hellebores, yuccas, cucumber magnolias and coralbells, as well are 40 varieties of trees. They will also see a large spring-fed pond with bullfrogs, water lilies and a 20-foot boulder. (Garden visitors should park along the street and walk up the long, curved drive. Comfortable seating awaits at the top of the drive, on the right near the first water feature.)

Susannah Adair's Paradise

3318 Breckenridge in Fayetteville

Susannah Handy Porter

Susannah Adair's great joys are her raised rose beds containing many hybrid tea roses. The beds were constructed from native stone from Mountainburg in 1999. Her roses have won many prizes in the Northwest Arkansas Rose Society's annual shows. For example, she was honored with the Court of Honors with four blue ribbon roses one year, and another year she received the Challenge Bowl for having the best Northwest Arkansas roses. She also has an 8 foot-by-5-foot potted gardenia bush that winters indoors, perennials, annuals and some tomato plants.

Maggie's Farm

1434 E. Eton St. in Fayetteville

Margaret and Steve Elkins

Steve Elkins is another rose lover; in fact, he is Susannah Adair's rose mentor. His hybrid tea roses have also won many awards from the Rose Society. While the front of the Elkins' home displays many lovely nandina with their red berries all winter, their back yard is their pride and joy. It showcases numerous rose beds, hostas, lenten roses, astilbes, ferns and a fall-blooming clematis vine that climbs their double-trellised garden "gate." The Elkinses have enjoyed sharing their plants as well as receiving pass-along plants from friends.

Garlings' Gardens at Pleasant Acres

5305 Bellview Ave. in Rogers

Annette and Phil Garling

The Garlings began building their garden in the spring of 1994. It has evolved since then and grown to include a raised bed of peonies, a daylily bed containing many plants that were hybridized by Annette's late sister, some lovely trees, Phil's vegetable garden and peach orchard, and a pine thicket that was started with 24-inch tall stock. They also have a "castaway garden" which visitors will learn more about on the tour. Bright annuals such as petunias, begonias, geraniums and mandevilla in pots liven up the scene among Phil's handmade bird houses. The two trees that flank the front driveway are Aristocrat pear trees that have beautiful blossoms and are more resistant to breakage than are the Bradford pear trees.

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