Celebrating 10 years of Great Gardeners
Blendon Huber Ridge Blooms Annual Garden Show and Contest
It's our 10th Anniversary Tour and we are thrilled to celebrate ten years of great gardeners, beautiful blooms, generous donors, and dedicated volunteers! If you are new to the community and do not know about Blendon Huber Ridge Blooms, it is a free, publicized garden tour where gardeners in Huber Ridge and Sunbury Woods welcome the general public to tour and appreciate their garden. It is a judged event that rewards all participants and also selects three place winners. The tour takes place rain or shine (we hope for the shine). How many and which gardens will be open for tour varies from year to year depending on a successful application process. (See application for details.)
NEW date this year! Many expressed that an earlier tour date would show off their gardens better. In response, we moved the date up. Our new, earlier tour date is Sunday, June 25, from 1-5 p.m. We are hoping the earlier date will result in a greater and more diverse response. Knowing we have many skilled gardeners in the community, we are encouraging interested gardeners to apply starting May 1. The deadline to apply is June 12, at 5 p.m.
Also new this year we are including the Blooms application in the Herald for your convenience. In the past we have cased the Huber Ridge and Sunbury Woods neighborhoods looking for potential garden entries. We may still case the communities for great gardens, but we very much appreciate resident-initiated applications. Some back yards are beautiful but as we drive through the community, it is very difficult to see backyards from the street view. So if you have worked hard and want to share your beautiful blooms, then please apply.
A little bit of history. This event began in 2008 for the Huber Ridge Area as a result of the encouragement and prompting of Blendon Township Trustee Stewart Flaherty, an avid gardener himself. Stewart believes that beauty is contagious, so each year he has “put his money where his mouth is” by donating the first place prize of a $100 gift card to a home improvement store. The intention was always to expand the tour to include more of Blendon township, but that did not happen until our eighth year when we included Sunbury Woods. Thank you, Stewart, for your generous giving and encouragement to our gardeners!
Volunteers have worked hard to make this event happen every year. Elisabeth Clegg (multiple duties), Hannah Clegg (photographer), Carolyn Cordray (multiple duties), and Marje Obrist (certificate design and production) have been involved with Blooms since the beginning. Others served as judge various years: Elisabeth Clegg, Carolyn Cordray, Barbara Crawford, Jaclyn Davis, Jeff and Linda Laine, Diane Lobdell, and Marje Obrist. Joy Neff and Sharon Ricker contributed to the Gardener's Reception. Both Joy and Carolyn have created coupons for the event. Carolyn created gift bags. Sharon Ricker and Diane Lobdell have also served as co-coordinators. These volunteers put in a lot of time, thought, and effort, so please join me in thanking them. Blooms would not happen without them. We thank all of you!
Sponsors/donors have also made this event happen. Please take time to thank Trustee Stewart Flaherty for his idea, support, and generous donation each year. Thank your Huber Ridge Area Association, Inc., members and Executive Committee for their support and generous donations of third place prize, gifts, supplies, and Blooms signs. Please thank Sharon Ricker who has generously donated the second place prize of a $50 gift card to Oakland Nursery since 2009 (she won first place in 2008). Thank Barbara Crawford who donates toward the gift bags each participant receives. Thank Hoover Gardens for their sponsorship and generous coupon. Strader's Garden Center donated one year, and we thank them as well. Because of these donors our gardeners are generously rewarded.
We really believe that “gardens are for sharing” and we hope our best gardens will be shared on our 10th Anniversary Tour. Sincere and special thanks to all who have shared their beautiful blooms these last nine years. Without your sharing, there would have been no tours. Some excellent gardeners who even placed in the show are now deceased, but we remember them this year with pride.
And without those who tour, Blooms would not have much success either. So we very much thank those who make time to tour the gardens. Many participants have said how much your encouragement impacted them. Thank you!
You can stay informed about Blooms on Facebook, search Blendon Huber Ridge Blooms; and www.huberridge.org.
Pam Clegg, Blooms Coordinator
