Spring has been in the air for nearly a month now, and the Southern Cayuga Garden Club is prepared to show off just what the season has to offer.
On Sunday, June 17, the club will host the Lakeside Views Garden Tour across six privately owned gardens in Southern Cayuga, Cayuga, Union Springs and Auburn. Balloons and numbered markers will help identify the gardens as people follow a map from plot to plot. Club members will be at each garden to direct people for parking and viewing, and to stamp tickets.
This will mark the 25th year the club will host such an event, and coordinator and soon-to-be-retired President Joan Parsnick couldn’t be more thrilled.
“There are about 50 people in the club, with the assistance of fellow coordinators Romayne Labaron and George Fearon. The tour takes approximately one year to plan. We stand as a club committed to the beautification of our community,” Parsnick said.
This year, Parsnick explained, a new element will be added to the tour. A wine tasting will take place at The Apple Station, a recently opened and family-operated apple orchard, farm and winery located in Cayuga. Owners Bob and Kathy Wintamute, along with their daughters Randi and Corey, will provide apple wine tasting.
“Today, The Apple Station features a new store with the same ‘old store’ theme; I believe people will just fall in love with the antiques and collectibles!” Parsnick said. “Equally as exciting will be the array of animals, such as an alpaca, goats, a variety of chickens, sheep and peacocks for people to admire.
The garden club expects between 100 and 150 people to participate in this year’s tour.
“It is a wonderful way to explore, share gardening tips and ideas, and just a breathtaking way to spend a day,” Parsnick said.
The annual tour also serves as a fundraiser for the club’s scholarships, which are awarded to graduating seniors in southern Cayuga County pursuing a degree in horticulture, agriculture or related areas
“The club awarded three scholarships this year,” Parsnick said. “One to a graduating Southern Cayuga High School student and two to graduating Union Springs High School students.
Because the club covers a large area, it often changes the stops on its annual tour. The club waits a few years to bring a garden back to the tour, during which time it may have changed — sometimes drastically.
This year, the roster is very diverse, Parsnick said.
“These are definitely not your average gardens; some have waterfalls, ponds with koi and goldfish, a plethora of rock gardens, gorgeous trees such as spruce and evergreens, an English boxwood framed garden and flowers ranging from poppies and roses to exquisite orchids and irises,” Parsnick said. “One very unique garden even has cactus and uses fossils, bones and rocks decoratively.”
Parsnick said the tour would not have been possible without the help of the following sponsors Cayuga Lake Bank, The Be Happy Café, The Gardner Agency, Copperesque Picture Framing and Gifts, The Apple Station, The Produce Place, Legends Tavern, Cavi’s Pies, Seneca Falls Savings Bank and Dill’s Run Winery and BB.
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