Sue and Roger Olson Gardens

This secluded home is artfully set among evergreens and deciduous trees and backs up to a former apple orchard. Sue says they are ‘living with nature” as they share their yard with wildlife. She loves to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, in memory of her mother. There are birdbaths, a garden mirror, and iron leaves sprouting next to the flower-bedecked shed. Fairy roses, dogwood, hostas, sunflowers and more are well tended and bordered with rocks from the nearby beach. A fire-pit with a jig-saw-pattern patio adds interest to this park like setting. I felt like pulling up a chair and soaking up some of the peaceful beauty of this lovely spot.

Diane Fox and Patrick Mullins Gardens

Travel south on Monroe Blvd. until the sidewalk ends. Turn right down the shady lane, and look up to the highest point in South Haven. The lovely garden of Diane and Patrick surrounds their home, built in the 1800s, remodeled in the 1940s and enjoyed by family and friends throughout their 22 years in residence. The view is breathtaking and if you have enough breath, 75 steps take one down to the beach. The beach path is lined with lily of the valley, spirea, trillium, rhododendrons, jack in the pulpit, lilacs, ferns, hostas, foxglove and more. There are vegetable gardens, milkweed for Monarchs, poppies, False Solomon's Seal, wild asparagus, hollies, snow on the mountain, sedum, and columbine. Diane is attempting to replace the steep front lawn with perennials and it’s fun to watch her magic creep along. Look up into the trees and consider this myth: early Native Americans planted pine trees from this high point in a line reaching to Paw Paw. No pine surveys have been undertaken, but a visit to this garden is a delight none-the-less.

Christine Valentine Gardens

Good things come in small packages and a secret garden is hidden behind the patio walls of this ‘loft’ condo. The owner enjoys her quiet spot, ideal for reading and relaxing with a cup of tea. This tidy pocket holds potted herbs, lilac, holly, daylilies, clematis, ornamental grass, and a lace cap hydrangea climbs up the south wall. Metallic glints in the flagstone catch the sun and invite one to stay for the magic. But a climb up and up to the roof- top yields another gem. A ‘manageable garden’ sits along the perimeter in Earth Boxes, which are self-contained gardens. The owner is growing collard greens, tomatoes, jalapeno and banana peppers. No weeding, what a great idea! The deck was thoughtfully built with several round holes to allow the moveable shade of umbrellas.

Luanne and Steve Botimer Gardens

The owners have lived at this address for 12-13 years, and recently rebuilt after their home burned to a shell. Out of the ashes, they’ve created gardens to envy. Very little mowing is required as the front yard is blanketed with flowers and trees. Luanne has cultivated many of the flowers from seed, including poppies from her Aunt Tottie, who lived to 99. (Gardening is good for you!) Luanne comes from a family of gardeners and has two antique cultivators near the vegetable garden behind the garage, one from her grandmother and the other from her aunt. Cosmos, poppy, bachelor’s buttons, snow on the mountain, hostas, pink impatiens, coral bells, daylilies, lilies, foxglove, mallow, peonies, tri colored hydrangea, roses, cleomes, ferns, hollyhocks, asters, bamboo, weeping cherry and peach trees are some of the eye-popping variety. A sweet golden doodle reigns over this Eden.

Linda Blair Gardens

Every variety of hydrangea populates this neat garden. Pine trees outline the back border which falls away to a ravine. Linda lover her Kousa Dogwood, planted 17 years ago and now a towering beauty. She call the garden "easy to maintain," although her hard work is evident in the loving placement in each specimen. Blackeyed Susans, purple coneflowers, catmint, coreopsis, St. Johns Wort, rhododendron, bleeding hearts, lilac, boxwood, phlox, hibiscus, lilies of the valley, orange day lilies, coral-bells, roses, straw plant, bittersweet, honeysuckle, hosta, ferns, and cranberry bushes are some of the plantings. Bright window boxes perch on the deck railings, and on the front windows. A pink Alice duPont mandevilla creeps up a large iron trellisin the center of the yard.

Steve French Gardens

It’s worth the short drive out to the open Woodcreek Gallery and garden estate. Steve has cultivated 5 acres of this 25-acre former Christmas tree farm. His pride and joy are 150 varieties of lilies and the natural waterfall behind his self designed home. He’s found Coho salmon in the stream and a Kingfisher recently dropped a fish on his deck. There are architectural remnants from an original home scattered throughout the gardens, along with sculptures collected by the artist. There is a “Michigan Fern” garden, a tearoom garden, Monarch butterfly field of milkweed, complete with a recently vacated beehive. Colorful chickens live ‘the life of Riley,’ surrounded by a pumpkin patch, Harry Lauder’s walking stick, jack in the pulpit, monardia, huge hostas, snowball viburnum, and lots more. Don’t miss the ‘mother fish god sculpture.’ Steve’s indoor art gallery will be open during the garden walk.

2012 Garden Walk Information