Weather.com says the temperature this afternoon was 84 degrees, but when we walked through the gate of Shelter Gardens it felt much cooler. The entrance, which is full of lush greenery as the end of June nears, provided a nice break from the sunshine.
Shelter Gardens, a 5-acre site with 14 garden areas, was the final stop before dinner on the judges tour Monday. Joy Long, superintendent of grounds for Shelter Insurance Company, took us on a tour of the gardens.
First stop: the sensory garden. Here, visitors are encouraged to carefully touch the plants to observe them with touch instead of sight. Each plant is labeled not only in English, but in Braille as well.
Then, we walked around the paths to the other garden areas. These include the butterfly/hummingbird garden, the conifer garden, the deciduous shrub garden, the Japanese maple garden, the shade garden, the Vietnam memorial, the gazebo, the lily pool, the rose garden, the desert garden, the rock garden, the Newcomer school, and the waterfall, pool and stream.
Long discussed a little of everything: irrigation, organic gardening, lawn management, history of the gardens and the replica of an old schoolhouse and community involvement at summer concerts and weddings.
Rosen listened, laughed with her and offered some of his own suggestions as a fellow plant enthusiast.
Of course, at any garden, you can’t forget to stop and smell the roses. Unfortunately, Long said many of the roses in the rose garden were wiped out because of last year’s frost. The new roses, over 50 varieties of hybrid teas, miniatures, shrubs and climbers, seem to be doing well.
“Every year the plants get more beautiful,” Long said. “It makes you wonder how you’re going to outdo yourself the next.”
— Rebecca Legel
