Spring Garden Tour
St. Luke's fundraiser offers a day of blooming pleasures in local gardens
By Shari Kaplan
April showers--in fact, a whole spring of exceptionally rainy and cold weather--have finally let up, allowing for an equally exceptional display of May flowers, lush trees and beautiful gardens. Four of those gardens are showcased in the third annual Spring Garden Tour, organized by St. Luke's Episcopal Church on 20 University Ave. in Los Gatos.
The event takes place May 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. and raises funds for the many nonprofit organizations St. Luke's supports. More than $10,000 has been raised in past years, with funds distributed to causes such as Los Gatos' Live Oak Adult Day Care Center and A Place for Teens, as well as the Santa Maria Urban Mission and the Georgia Travis/Inn Vision Women's Shelter programs, both based in San Jose. A portion of the proceeds also helps maintain church grounds.
The idea for the tour came to co-chairs Steve and Julia Conway several years ago, after they thought about the similar tours they used to enjoy elsewhere in California. They also realized there were no local garden tours, only home tours. They broached the idea to St. Luke's rector, the Rev. David Breuer, who liked the idea, as did many parishioners.
This year's event includes lunch in the St. Luke's courtyard with music, a raffle, a garden item boutique and plant sale. Each guest also receives a program that describes each of the gardens, their histories and information about the Los Gatos area.
"We plan to display both large and small gardens, new and old, simple and ornate--each appealing to guests in a unique and different way," Julia says.
"With each visitor is planted the seed for a show garden in future years. Several of our 1999 gardens are owned by visitors to our 1997 and 1998 tours," she adds.
Photograph by George Sakkestad
Noreen Christopher enjoys the koi ponds in the plush park-like setting of her Saratoga home.
El Camino Senda, Saratoga
Art and Noreen Christopher's property is not only the most autonomous--located in unincorporated Saratoga far off the beaten path of Highway 9--but is by far the largest.
Calling the sylvan surroundings a "garden," however, is like calling San Simeon's Hearst Castle a "house." Made up of more than two acres of gently rolling woodland, a natural stream, man-made waterfalls, rock-lined pathways and hundreds of feet of wooden decking, steps and romantic benches, the property resembles a natural setting in the woods. The name El Camino Senda, loosely translated, means "pathway."
"It's a labor of love and a work in progress, pretty much all the time," Noreen says. "We keep it as a park-like setting because with the size of the property, we could never pull every weed or blow every leaf!"
"Things keep popping up here and there that we don't even plant. We don't like to cut anything down or take anything away unless we really need to," she adds, pointing out patches of colorful wildflowers, some of which she can't identify. As for the trees, most of them invited themselves over long ago and have no plans of moving. These include groves of tall redwoods that filter the sunlight like a prism, pines and spruces and dozens of craggy oak trees, both deciduous white oaks and evergreen live oaks.
The Christophers have added some arboreal accents of their own, planting gracefully weeping birches, heavenly bamboo, rose bushes and several varieties of Japanese maples with distinctively colorful foliage. Showy flowers also abound; those planted intentionally thriving alongside those that blew in and grow wild.
"We did a lot of trimming back the first few years and tried to find the things that would do best here, based on the soil and lighting," Noreen says. Although she and Art select their own plants from nurseries and determine where they should go, usually the actual digging and planting falls to a gardening crew.
Walking through the property involves pathways delineated by steppingstones and pretty river rocks. They lead not only to different areas of lush vegetation but also to a network of wooden decks built by previous owners, who constructed a three-tiered pond system that the Christophers restored to beautiful working order, right down to the fat koi fish that swim happily beneath the surface. One of the Christophers' daughters even got married in this naturalistic setting.
Photograph by George Sakkestad
Among the flowers blooming in Carol Waite's garden on Glenridge Avenue is this azalea.
Glenridge Avenue, Los Gatos
"Everything here is new except for the redwood and that other tree," says Barry Waite, pointing to a giant redwood towering high over his backyard and an average-sized stray tree with tiny whitish/yellow flowers growing nondescriptly in a corner. The front yard also has a few old-timers: a hulking cedar tree and twin date palms--about as tall as they come--that Barry says are approximately 105 years old, according to local historical photos and documents.
When Barry, his wife Carol and their now 8-year-old daughter, Kendra, moved into the home nearly seven years ago, they had their work cut out for them. In the backyard, they found an old brick barbecue and fireplace in disrepair. After having the apparatus dismantled, the Waites used the bricks to fashion an attractive brick deck with country charm.
Before they could lay the brickwork, however, they were surprised to find three to four different layers of old decks. Evidently previous owners kept laying new levels of materials on the old, speculates Barry, who likened the project to an archeological dig. Along with the bricks, guests can also walk on steppingstones made of Connecticut bluestone. In hot weather, a large swimming pool beckons, also surrounded by stone. At one end of the pool, but not attached to it, is a gently gurgling fountain.
Softening these features is a lawn and an array of trees, plants and flowers, almost all of which were planted by the Waites. Their occasional gardener "essentially mows and blows," Carol says.
"I'm not so sure I always like the planting work, but I love the results. It's a sense of accomplishment. It's also a creative process," Carol adds. Their formula for success, she says, is a result of reading books, soliciting advice from friends and other gardeners and good old trial and error.
Among the trees gracing the backyard are several specimens of Japanese maple in shades of light salmon, maroon and vivid green. Adding their own spots of color and texture are wisteria, hollyhocks, azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas, spotted dead nettle, lavender, peonies, foxglove, lamb's ear, echinacea, poppies, irises, clematis, alyssum and johnny-jump-ups. In the front yard are catmint, columbines, ferns and more camellias. And almost overlooked along the side of the house grow eight beautiful rose bushes.
Los Gatos Boulevard, Los Gatos
Just like the frost-sensitive jacaranda tree in the front yard that took until late April even to think about popping its leaf buds, the rest of the English front garden and herbal back garden of the Farhi and Humphrey house also takes time and patience before it's ready to put on its May best. But good things come to those who wait, and these gardens are no exception.
The good things here are mostly thanks to the patience of professional local gardener Dick Miller, who helps husband and wife Henri Farhi and Kiturah Humphrey and Kiturah's mother, Mary Grace Humphrey, maintain the place. Mary Grace, who calls herself a "live-in grandmother" to 7-year-old grandson, Jamie, waters her tomato plants and the more easily accessible flowers.
Among her favorites is her "signature plant"--a vibrant red rose that represents her home state of Oklahoma. A petite yellow rose bush nearby is for Kiturah, who was born in Texas. "There are flowers, and then there are roses!" Mary Grace says with a grin.
Sharing space with those southern
beauties is a rainbow array of other plants, including geraniums, pansies, alyssum, columbines, bachelor's buttons, irises, ranunculus, snapdragons, lavender and lupines. Joining the jacaranda--which in time will bring forth delicate purple blossoms--are crape myrtles and wooden arbors covered with hanging wisteria and climbing roses. Along the side of the house grow calla lilies, campanula and more irises.
"The garden is planted with the idea that throughout the various growing seasons, there's always something in bloom. Some things are waiting their turn," Miller says.
In the back of the lavender-colored Victorian is a flourishing herb garden, where fragrant plants grow among concrete-lined walkways, a fountain and a weathered sundial. A cook's delight, the herbs include mint, chives, rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley and other culinary herbs. Interspersed among the herbs, tiny but determined blue forget-me-nots make their presence known. Not to be outdone, the back fence is covered with the fragrant blooms of honeysuckle and passionflower vines.
Kimble Avenue, Los Gatos
Scott and Sivia VanGunde are starting anew in two ways: they moved into their Victorian at the corner of Kimble and Cleland avenues in February, and Sivia gave birth to their second child in March. In addition to settling into a new home and adjusting to a new baby, the VanGundes also discovered from the previous owner that their garden was part of the St. Luke's tour.
An earthy greenthumb, Sivia transformed the somewhat neglected and frost-damaged garden into a lovely respite from the busy downtown just a few hundred feet below. The backyard is divided into small but distinct areas Sivia calls "the English garden," "the woodlands," "the tropical area" and "the veggie garden."
"My goal as a gardener is to plant things that will stay around for more than one season. Having continuous color is a challenge. I also want to make this garden as organic as possible," she says. To that end, Sivia uses ladybugs and parasitic wasps to prey on insect pests; uses traps rather than sprays or poisons to catch other pests; makes her own compost and buys organic fertilizers.
Calling the English garden home are crape myrtle trees, purple and variegated sage, yarrow, tree roses as well as climbers, bearded irises, lamb's ear, woolly thyme, pansies and clematis vines, some of which Sivia calls "volunteers."
"In true English cottage gardening, if you get a volunteer plant that you find attractive, you just kind of let it do its thing," she says.
The woodlands include a flowering plum tree, a Japanese maple and a mystery tree, along with columbines, hydrangeas, pretty purple groundcover and other plants. Between this area and the English garden is a four-level fountain complete with aquatic plants and mosquito fish.
A banana tree and bird of paradise near the swimming pool represent the tropics, complemented by a wisteria-covered arbor. The veggie garden consists of a raised bed for a variety of small crops. The front yard's main attributes are a deep purple lilac bush, a circle of Mexican sage and a spreading live oak, complete with a rustic swing.
"I like the peace and quiet. I love the smell of the dirt, and even the physical labor feels good," Sivia says of why she never tires of gardening. "It's so rewarding to see things coaxed by you to grow and bloom. It's kind of like raising children," she adds.
Tickets for the Spring Garden Tour are $15 in advance and $18 on the May 15 tour date. For more information, call the St. Luke's office at 354-2195 or the Conways at 376-0609.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
