Jeanine Matlow
| Special to The Detroit News
Rochester Hills resident wins Homestyle Garden Photo Contest
With more than 400 votes tallied from our readers, who selected from the 12 weekly winners chosen from more than 600 entries, the entry “Garden With Pond and Waterfall” from Patricia Thorner was the top vote getter for the 2025 Homestyle Garden Photo Contest. Her Rochester Hills garden has something new blooming every few weeks, she writes. The lovely setting features a mix of flowers, from daffodils, geraniums and purple allium to bee balm, black-eyed Susans and hydrangeas. Thorner will receive a $200 gift certificate to English Gardens, the contest’s sponsor. In addition to Metro Detroit and the U.P., votes came in across the U.S., including New York and North Dakota, as well as from overseas in Saudi Arabia.
Inaugural Furniture Flip Bash raises $100,000 for community
Following the first Furniture Flip Bash at the Village Club in Bloomfield Hills on Sept. 4, the numbers for the Furniture Bank of Metro Detroit fundraiser tell a success story. With more than 270 attendees and 119 flipped furniture pieces, the event raised $100,000 after expenses. The winner of the $1,000 People’s Choice Award and the $5,000 Best in Show Award (selected by Hilary Farr, interior designer and star of HGTV’s “Love It or List It”) was Tess Phaneuf from Commerce Township, who turned an old dresser into an adorable dollhouse. As the oldest furniture bank in North America, Furniture Bank of Metro Detroit has served nearly 80,000 Metro Detroit families with a mission to provide gently used furniture to neighbors in need. The organization aims to give stability and dignity to families overcoming challenges such as homelessness, domestic violence, extreme poverty, or sudden crises like fires or floods. Go to furniture-bank.org.
Gardner White Mattress store opens in Brighton
Now that Gardner White recently opened Gardner White Mattress, a new standalone store in Brighton offering premium mattress brands and innovative sleep solutions, you can rest easy. Selections include Aireloom, Beautyrest, King Koil Mattress Co., Kingsdown, Sealy, Serta, Stearns & Foster, Tempur-Pedic and more. The Brighton store at 9990 East Grand River Ave. is the first Gardner White Mattress brick-and-mortar location, with additional locations to follow. The public is invited to attend an open house at Gardner White Mattress in Brighton from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 25. The continued expansion for Gardner White stores across Michigan includes Owosso, Cadillac, Gaylord, Midland and Mount Pleasant. The retailer also added GW Home in Downtown Detroit. Go to gardner-white.com.
Swap plants at Yardeners fall event
The Yardeners Fall Plant Exchange returns from 9-11 a.m. Sept. 20. This event will be held in the parking lot of the St. Clair Shores Library at the corner of 11 Mile and Jefferson. Load up your vehicles with your extra plants and divisions. Bag, tag and drag your offerings to trade or give away to other gardeners. No money is involved. Simply come with your plants and enjoy their “tailgate garden party.” Please label all your plants. Go to scsmi.net.
Learn about gardening in harsh environments
The Meadow Brook Garden Club will meet Sept. 26 at Meadow Brook Hall at 350 Estate Drive in Rochester. Coffee and refreshments will be served at 9:15 a.m. with a program to follow at 10 a.m. Don LaFond of the North American Rock Garden Society will present “A Garden in a Gravel Pit.” What began with a small backyard patch of soil to feed a sandbox village at age 5 continues today on his challenging acre of sand and gravel. LaFond will share lessons learned about gardening in this harsh environment with the help of his friends at Arrowhead Alpines, who taught him about rock gardening. Please enter through the new DeCarlo Visitor Center. Guests are welcome and reservations are not required. There is a $5 nonmember fee. For information, call (248) 364-6210, email MBGC@Oakland.edu or visit meadowbrookhall.org.
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