Garden tour shows off area's beauty

How does your garden grow? Travel along from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 6, with the Shelbyville Bedford County Chamber of Commerce Beautification Garden Tour and you'll see.

"This year's Garden Tour takes you around Shelbyville and Bedford with many gardens at historic homes and neighborhoods," said Lynn Hulan, who is helping coordinate the event. "Proceeds from this year's tour will be used by the Committee to establish Shelbyville as a Tree City; previous year's proceeds have been used for beautification projects around Shelbyville's historic downtown."

The stops this year won't just be homes, either. From small, residential yards dressed in elegance to town parks and even businesses, the tour offers a sampling of what different creative minds have done with their gardens this year.

Here are only a few of the visits you'll make this year.

The Shull home, Audobon Road [Click to enlarge]

* The Shull garden on Audubon Road is a classic in green and white, with upright shrubs skirted with beds of phlox. Sitting on a rise, the house is the perfect backdrop for classic landscaping.

The Yockey home, South Brittain St. [Click to enlarge]

* The Yockey home on South Brittain is a lovingly kept early 20th Century home. The front yard is beautiful, but wait until you visit the back yard with its terrace.

The Meeks home, Whittthorne at Park Place. [Click to enlarge]

* The Meeks garden on the corner of Whitthorne and Park Place, another historic neighborhood, is awash with color under a shade canopy and proves you can have country comfort in the middle of town.

The Roche home in Wartrace. [Click to enlarge]

* The Roche garden in Wartrace is a large, rambling, and comfortable country garden, perfect for the magnificent home. The garden is bright with flowers and from it, visitors can glimpse splendid farm land vistas. Another treat will be the sculptures of Tracy Sugg and the crafts of Pearl Chang, as the garden showcases local talents as well as local flora.

* While in Wartrace, nearby Valley Home Farms, on Potts Road, a working farm and house surrounded by glorious peonies and tempting strawberries, is a complete example of Bedford County's historic farms.

The Hunter home outside Wartrace [Click to enlarge]

* Just outside of Wartrace, on Fairfield Pike, Sherri Warner Hunter will show you some more spectacular lawn art, including pieces she has made and is restoring for the city of Chattanooga. The artist will have several of her mosaic sculptures on display. Her work is displayed throughout the nation, from the library here in Shelbyville to the governor's mansion, from Chattanooga to the Healing Center in Minnesota.

Bell Buckle Park

* In Bell Buckle, they'll prove that it takes a village to raise a garden or, in this case, a beautiful, award-winning public park. And experienced gardener-guide will give a tour of the park and the arboretum.

Watch for more on this fun event, with the rest of the gardens on tour in the Shelbyville area described in detail.

Tickets for the day are $10 and will be available at the Shelbyville Bedford County Chamber of Commerce.

Box lunches are available for $10, but must be pre-ordered.