Quilt Gardens Tour

We’ve reached the midpoint of our summer here in Northern Indiana.  The weather is predictably warm and so is the color found in our gardens.  Nature provides us with so many wonderful hues to enrich our lives.  Shades of red, yellow and orange remind us of the sunshine so plentiful this time of the year. Cool shades of purple, azure, pink and white provide a visual respite from the heat of summer.  No matter which color scheme you choose the reward is the same.  A break from the dull grey of our concrete lives in the cities and towns we call home. 
Our Quilt Gardens have been sketched, painted, photographed and written about by visitors from across this great country of ours. They are inspired by the imagination of a county intent upon telling the story of lives pieced together with remnants small and large to form the fabric of a community.  A blending of cultures both simple and complex stitched together and held by the thread of human experience.  This is what I find so alluring about the Quilt Garden Tour.  The art of a garden held so precious in the hearts of the people who tend them and the joy held by the visitors thrilled with the result. These colors and cultures unify our hearts and remind us that in nature there is no discrimination.

As I wandered through my gardens looking for just the right spot to plant a new ornamental grass I’d acquired my gaze settled on an old patch of ditch lilies I’ve been meaning to replace. When we first moved to our home as a young married couple I was thrilled to receive a few free plants from my favorite aunt. Now years later I find that I can be a bit more selective having the freedom to buy showier plants to include in my repertoire.

Just like my experience in my gardens the Quilt Garden Tour has evolved and become more selective by establishing a more discriminating set of guidelines for participating sites. The venues are no longer grandfathered in under older standards. Now each Elkhart County site is asked to provide visitors with better view ability by raising the bed to a significant angle or by adding a viewing platform. Each Quilt Garden is juried by a panel of local landscape designers, Master Gardeners, growers, and park professionals in order to provide a quality experience to visitors. In all there are ten standards that must be met by site applicants.

As we grow in our experience as gardeners we find that our taste in plant materials changes as we build confidence and knowledge. Our plant palette develops a more sophisticated air of distinguished elegance.   So too will the Quilt Garden Tour continue to learn and grow. Each season brings with it exciting new opportunities to make each year better than the one before.

Yes, I still love day lilies – even ditch lilies, but now I offer them homes in the meadow where they can be appreciated for their wild beauty as they tower over the other wildflowers.

Dutch Country Market

Norman loves flowers, so he and his family were very excited when Dutch Country Market was juried-in as an official quilt garden site. Since there are eight members in the Lehman family, their “Eight Birds” pattern is quite fitting.

The family works as a team on the garden, although Norm says the girls seem a little more enthusiastic than the boys. And he admits there is a bit of incentive; he promised the family a trip to Colorado.

They did have some extra help to plant the garden’s 4,000 flowers. Obviously hard work and extra hands paid off. The garden was done 24 hours after the flowers were delivered! The quilt garden is a long-term commitment for the Lehman clan, and they like the challenge of changing patterns. “We’ve already picked out the pattern for next year,” says Norman.

The 2010 Quilt Gardens Tour is off to a great start! Fantastic pictures are starting to come in and I love that you can already see the patterns so clearly.

I have also posted a neat picture of the new viewing platform at Greencroft in Middlebury. This will make it very easy to get great angles for pictures.

Check out our gardens from week 1! View Photos

One might assume R & R to mean rest and relaxation, however in this case you would be mistaken. Our weather seems to be signaling an early fall season.  Cool days and even cooler nights send many messages to our landscape plants.  A hormonal shift occurs and the rapid growth of summer changes to seed setting and in many species spring bud development.

In the forest leaves fall and decay over the winter months providing a rich layer of humus packed with essential nutrients, micro-organisms and organic material.  This brings me to the first “R” in the title, Rejuvenation.  Mother Nature has set a well developed plan for successful gardening in this example. Fall is the best time to add soil amendments to the garden. Especially when adding organic materials such as compost or well rotted manure which mellows over winter “Rejuvenating” the garden which may have been depleted of minerals over the long growing season. Without this critical step many sites would look like a dust bowl of days gone by being unable to sustain new growth.

The second “R” represents “Re-evaluation”. Each Quilt Garden will re-evaluate their sites based on how each plant preformed in a given location.  The savvy gardener will carefully note the success or failure of each cultivar for future consideration in their garden. In the forest this process of re-evaluation is carried out through natural selection. The plants and trees that best compete for sun and moisture will gain the privilege of inclusion in nature’s garden thus ensuring its survival as a species.

With so many choices to make about rejuvenation and re-evaluation of each Quilt Garden you can be assured there will be no rest or relaxation for the decision makers of the Quilt Garden Tour.

The Vera Bradley Hope Garden Quilt is making the rounds and on display at Vera Bradley retailers throughout Amish Country.  This year’s quilt is special to the Quilt Gardens Tour. It was made by two Vera Bradley Foundation volunteers using the bright flower patterned Hope Garden fabric. And it was was donated by the Vera Bradley Foundation to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research.  It does give you a feeling of hope when you see this quilt.

You can visit anyone of the Elkhart County locations to enter a raffle win the quilt.  Raffle tickets are $2 each, and you can enter as many times as you wish.So visit the Hope Garden Quilt at its touring locations, and enter to win the raffle. It’s a gorgeous quilt, and will help a great cause.

July 9 – 22
The Cinnamon Stick
102 S. Main St.
Middlebury, IN 46540

July 22 – August 5
Linton’s Enchanted Gardens
315 County Road 17
Elkhart, IN 46516

August 6 – 8
Das Dutchman Essenhaus
Essenhaus Quilt Show
240 US 20
Middlebury, IN 46540

August 11 – 25
Woldruff’s Footwear
129 S. Main
Goshen, IN 46526

August 26 – September 8
West View Florist
1717 Cassopolis St.
Elkhart, IN 46514

September 9 – 16
Linton’s Enchanted Gardens
315 County Road 17
Elkhart, IN 46516

The drawing will be held on Friday, September 18 at the Davis Mercantile Theatre in Shipshewana, IN.  If you collect Vera Bradley, this would be a beautiful addition to your collection.  Let me know if you’ve seen the Hope Garden Quilt and tell me what you thought of it.

I had the opportunity to view most of the quilt gardens again last week and I’m hard pressed to choose a favorite. There are of course several that stand out in my mind. I love the garden at the Das Essenhaus. The “Center Diamond” pattern has proven to be a spectacular choice. Their choice of plant material is stunning.

I’m also partial to the “Flower Basket” at Ruthmere Mansion. They chose to include Telstar Dianthus, which is performing beautifully. This garden is patterned after a quilt in their private collection, which adds to the historic relevance of the garden. I only wish they would have elevated it for better viewing.

Another favorite is the one at the Old Bag Factory named “A Birds Eye View”. Designer Shirley Shenk out did herself with this pattern. I am anxiously awaiting the periscope installation that will give us the superior view promised in the pattern name.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention “Recovery” at the McCormick Golf Course in Nappanee. This community endured almost total destruction last year during the tornado season and now this garden reminds us that where disaster strikes beauty will return to erase the ill-fated memories best left behind. This is the only garden using Coleus and it appears to be a stunner! It really adds contrast and interest to the saw tooth border that surrounds the design.

We’ll see how the season plays out but if the early views of the quilt gardens are any indication it will be hard to choose a favorite. I‘d like to see the addition of a viewer’s choice award so that the public could vote on their favorite gardens. Perhaps someone at the ECCVB might be able to add it to their website. Now wouldn’t that be fun?

Check out the Postage Stamp Collection in Nappanee – Just put up today!
They’re just beautiful!

LONE STAR
DIAMOND-IN-THE-SQUARE
SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS
DOUBLE NINE PATCH

Nappanee is dedicated to celebrating Amish life, and what better way than to recreate four classic quilt patterns: Lone Star, Diamond-in-the-Square, Sunshine and Shadows and Double Nine Patch. In 2001, each of these patterns was reproduced in a series of US postage stamps, first issued in Nappanee. All are based popular quilts crafted between 1910 and 1940 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Many Elkhart County Amish have kin in that Pennsylvania enclave, the largest in the United States.

Several folks have indicated an interest in watching the planting of the Quilt Garden Tour gardens! Here is a schedule for this week. We will continue to update as we get more dates and times. Check out all of this year’s Quilt Gardens Tour Patterns here

Tuesday, May 19th

McCormick Creek Golf Course at 9am

Amish Acres after 11am

Thursday, May 21st

American Countryside Farmers Market at 9am

Menno-Hof at 3:30pm

Thursday Afternoon:

Das Dutchman Essenhaus

Ruthmere Museuem

Friday, May 22nd

Das Dutchman Essenhaus

Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds

Amish Acres

If you watched the planting for last years Quilt Gardens Tour gardens, tell us about it!