Soroptimist Garden Tour

I had a chance to participate in the 2013 Annual Soroptimist Garden Tour yesterday. The Soroptimist International of Schenectady (an organization focused on supporting women) holds this garden tour of Schenectady county annually. I wasn't able to visit all the gardens open to the public, but I was able to check out two local ones that were close by my home.

The first was the garden of Faith & John Weldon in Glenville.

 

 

They did a fantastic job of converting a soggy drainage area into a vast backyard garden area with different areas of plantings and a wonderful Koi pond.

I was very interested in visiting one garden in particular, that of Stan Hobbs in Glenville. I read about his garden in the local newspaper. Its a woodland stroll garden with many Japanese features. I was surprised to discover that someone else in my town shared an interest in Japanese gardens and had created one on his property.

"Flower, Mist Dwelling Place"

The garden turned out to be even better than the newspaper had described. Stan has put a lot of work into his garden and its Japanese esthetic is truly authentic. Walking through the garden I was inspired to consider some new types of plantings and incorporate some elements of what Stan has done into some of my future plans.

I'm hoping to have Stan over to my garden this summer so we can exchange ideas - perhaps Stan is a Bodhisattva who can help direct me to a more enlightened path of gardening.