A season’s worth of gardening will culminate this weekend.
The Manhattan Area Garden Tour, organized by the K-State Riley County Extension Master Gardeners, is returning for its 37th year on Saturday by featuring five private gardens and the K-State Gardens on Denison Avenue.
This year’s theme, “Cultivating a Sense of Place,” is a nod to retired K-State extension landscape specialist Gus van der Hoeven. Tour organizers said in a statement his broadcasts and writings over the past 40-plus years celebrate an intimate, deeply rooted “sense of place” that champions the landscapes, ecology and rural communities of the Flint Hills.
“His work, as well as the time and effort that our garden hosts have put into their gardens over many years, reflects on the emotional bonds we form with the land,” organizers said.
At the K-State Gardens, 1500 Denison Ave., master gardeners will be stationed at the Adaptive and Native Garden, Butterfly Garden and Cottage Garden. A master gardener will also be present at the garden’s reflecting pool — which landscaping around the area has been completed in the past year — and organizers are eager for visitors to come and listen to the sounds of water spilling into smaller pools.
Besides the plant material, there are sculptures as well as numerous arbors and benches located throughout the site. The K-State Gardens are open to the public year round.
Private gardens on the tour include:
Cynthia and Cody Domenghini, 900 Fremont St.Marti Wickham and Bill Franz, 2001 Plymouth Drive.Molly Callaghan, 2436 Lookout Drive.Ursula Weiser, 811 Houston St.Jane and Rod Fox, 1905 Bluestem Terrace.
The tour runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Organizers recommend a $10 donation from anyone who wishes to join, with the proceeds going to the K-State Gardens. Visitors can start from any site.
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