The Fairfield Art Association (FAA) is delighted to host the Dorothy Bell Memorial Garden Tour on Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The inspiring garden event honors founding member and garden tour creator Dorothy Bell in this 60th FAA anniversary year.
The fundraiser tour includes five featured gardens and two bonus garden center stops—Oakwood Nursery at 1000 Oakwood Blvd. in Fairfield, and Wolf Creek Farm at 3100 226th Street in Lockridge (open after 1 p.m.). At both locations, visitors can sign up for a door prize, gather inspiration, and explore plants available for purchase.
The garden tour will feature a handful of plein air artists at work, as well as live music for the enjoyment of tourgoers. The five official garden stops include:
Bob & Jan Bork, 802 South 3rd Street. Enjoy their shady, hidden backyard garden, with treasures like the Fothergilla shrub, a cherished Harison’s Yellow rose, and original art and woodworking.
Glenn & Diana Watt, 800 South 3rd Street. Explore footpaths featuring bricks and rocks, as well as geodes and crystals integrated with the plants—including a Chinese dogwood, two large azalea bushes, a climbing hydrangea, a buckthorn, grape vines, and many native flowers.
Jim & Joan Salts, 2223 185th Street. The many gardens around this country home showcase lilies, money plants (lunaria), snow-on-the-mountain (euphorbia), hostas, decorative garden art, a painted bird bath inherited from Joan’s parents, an apple orchard, a frog pond, and more.
Pete and Kathy Tollenaere, 2439 Peach Avenue. Meander through “The Sunny Corner Bed,” “The Often-Overlooked Garden,” “The Raised Bed Gardens,” “The Woodland Walk,” “The Small Shed Bed,” “The Big Backyard Bed,” “The Pond Garden,” “The Way-Back Garden,” and “The Big Shed Bed,” many of which feature art installations.
Patrick & Suzan Kessel, 412 Heatherwood Circle. Their forest-adjacent gardens feature a waterfall and frog pond with waterlilies, over 50 flower pots, and garden art collected from 16 years of Fairfield Art Association outdoor art installations.
Oakwood Nursery, 1000 Oakwood Blvd. in Fairfield
Wolf Creek Farm at 3100 226th Street, Lockridge. Open after 1 p.m.
Attendees can start at any garden to purchase a $10 ticket and receive a map for the day.