Friends of Maclay Gardens
Feature Article
2008 Tour of Gardens

The Friends of Maclay Gardens are planning another special Tour of Gardens to celebrate spring 2008. This year the event will be split into two days. Friday, May 2 will feature a speaker who specializes in southern gardening and Saturday, May 3 will start with a continental breakfast and silent auction at Maclay Gardens followed by the tour of some of Tallahassee's finest private gardens.

Norman Winter, Mississippi State University Extension Service horticulturist, will give a slide presentation about hardy plants and the latest on new plants for the southern garden. His recent book is entitled "Tough-As-Nails Flowers for the South." This new book and several others will be offered for sale at his talk which will start at 2:00 pm on Friday at the Timberlane Church of Christ on Timberlane School Road. For twenty years Mr. Winter has been writing a column called "Southern Gardening" where he gives advice on a large variety of gardening topics, such as native plants, butterfly gardens, container gardens and many more. His timely information can also be heard on the radio Monday through Friday and on his television show of the same name over many stations in Mississippi.

The actual Tour will begin at Maclay Gardens State Park on Saturday at 9:00 am with coffee, juice, muffins and pastries as well as a silent auction with numerous gardening and gift items to excite all tastes. Plants from the Maclay greenhouse and gardens will also be on sale. Tour participants will then pick up the program with directions and set off on a self-paced tour of the private gardens which will be open for viewing from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Master gardeners will be available at each site to answer questions.

The gardens selected this year offer a wide variety of styles. They include a small but peaceful yoga garden and a garden that shows creative ways to deal with drainage problems. Another is a two-level garden with a curving brick wall feature and one has no lawn at all but lots of low maintenance plantings. An in-town business with a new garden installation and a local commercial grower round out the excellent choices for this year's tour ticketholders.

Tickets may be purchased separately for each day at $25 or both for $40. They can be obtained at Maclay Gardens ranger station, Espositos Garden Center, Tallahassee Nurseries, and Native Nurseries.

For more information, call Maclay Gardens at (850)487-4556 or Betsy Kellenberger at (850)893-2951.