REDLANDS: Garden tour set for late April BY PENNY E. SCHWARTZ March 25, 2014 The Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society will celebrate its 125th anniversary with a garden show only, dispensing with the flower show that has been a part of its annual celebration for about 100 years. “We are going back to what we did when we first started,” said society President Chris Sedmack. “We wanted to make a change and to see if people like seeing gardens more than the flower show.” The lack of sufficient volunteers to staff the massive show, which has been held in recent years at Esri, the geographic systems information company on New York Street, and the advancing age of many volunteers also figured into the decision to forego the flower show, Sedmack said. This years tour, titled “125 Years Beautifying Redlands, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” will feature six home gardens and one business. The focus will be on visitors enjoying spring in the city as well as the showcase gardens, Sedmack said. Past tours included just four home gardens. In spring 1889, the Redlands Horticultural Society, then a mens club, merged with the womens community improvement group to form the Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society. Club membership now numbers nearly 250 families. Homes featured this year are those of Tim and Mary Andersen, 1655 Henrietta St.; Dennis Houlihan and Mike Coleman, 309 Felisa Court; Don and Arlene Benson, 1228 S. Center St.; Susan Schroeder, 840 Serpentine Drive; Jo Ann Levine, 1014 W. Sunset Drive; Polly Sholl, 30802 Miradero St.; and the Cutler Group Building, 201 Cajon St. The Andersens designed their landscaping to encircle their home. They recycled broken concrete from an old driveway, moved many existing plants and installed a drip system to conserve water. The private front yard is landscaped primarily with plants that have white flowers. At the Houlihan and Coleman home, two silk floss trees with natural plantings of bright red geraniums welcome visitors. The rear garden has two Canary Island date palms that create a canopy of shadel. A circular rose garden showcases brass cranes at its center. The Benson house is anchored by two planters of roses and the gardens include native plants, drought- tolerant succulents and cacti as well as plants from the horticultural societys plant yard in Prospect Park. The garden features a koi pond a tea room niche, a living wall of succulents and a sweet pea corner. Levine has accented her succulent garden with unusual art and statuary. She chose the sunset orange color of the house to show off the plants and brighten gloomy days, she said. Schroeder replaced her grass with a drought-tolerant yard featuring cactus and succulents. Sholls gardens feature wisteria on the front pillars and Cecile Brunner roses, her fathers favorite, on the back of the side yard. The Cutler Building began as Redlands’ first mortuary in 1903. It became the YWCA in 1913 and remained so for 90 years. Tom Cutler has owned it for the past seven years and has done extensive renovations, including a courtyard filled with Japanese maples and succulents in colorful pots. Flower photos by Redlands Camera Club members will be on display in the courtyard. The Horticultural Societys Uncommon Plant Sale, held twice a year at the plant yard in Prospect Park near the Carriage House, will coincide with the tour. “The money we raise will go straight back to Redlands,” said Barbara Herold, the groups treasurer. GARDEN SHOW The Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society will host a garden tour and plant sale, but not its usual flower show, at the end of April. GARDEN TOUR: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 26 and 27. Tickets are $10 and will be sold at the featured gardens during tour hours. PLANT SALE: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 26 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 27 in Prospect Park near the Carriage House, 1352 Prospect Drive. Tour tickets are not needed. MORE INFORMATION: RedlandsGardenClub pe/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20140325-redlands-garden-tour-set-for-late-april.ece
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 18:53:02 +0000