Garden tour opens summer

Each of the homes on the tour was marked by a garden gate and flower box, presented to the homeowners.

Despite a cool and cloudy day, the beauty of spring was on display Saturday during the annual Mountain Home Garden Tour.

This year the tour, featuring the gardens and landscaping of seven area homes, was run by the newly created Mountain Home Garden Club, with assisting sponsorship from the Zeta Beta Civic Club of Mountain Home.

The home of Kelli Collett at 485 N. 4th East St. featured rock and butterfly gardens, among other horticultural amenities.

Ralph and Dorothy Groefsema, 460 N. 15th East St., began working on their garden after they retired from farming and purchased their home in town. Two large elevated garden areas were complimented by a number of antique farming equipment serving as accents to the gardens.

Ray and ShellyWinkleman, 1745 E. 5th North St., featured a front yard garden filled with shade plants, and a backyard garden that included a deck, waterfall feature, and antiques melded into the floral landscape.

Jim and Cookie Alexander's home at 5149 N. 18th East St. was a huge landscaped property filled with a wide variety of trees and unique rolling hill-berms.

Patricia Morgan's home at 1545 N. 14th East Street reflected her English heritage, looking very much like a typical British garden, and demonstrated that small yards can be a riot of floral color.

Robert and Trudy Raub, at 1310 N. 9th East St., featured roses, lillies and other colorful flowers in two large landscaped areas in the front of their corner lot, as well as an extensive vegetable garden.

Howard and Susan Walker, at 1415 N. 3rd East St., featured several walkways and sitting areas surrounded by thick, lush flowers and foliage, and a large garden of Columbine, as well as a vegetable garden.

At the conclusion of the tour participants gathered at Basque Park for an "after tour" party that featured a number of auctions and other fundraising activities, food and wine.

Funds raised from the event are used to support scholarship programs for area art students.

For more photos see Mountain Home Photo Gallery