Garden tour set for first two weekends in May
By BURLON PARSONS bparsons@journal-spectator.com

While lots of folks are using spring time to get their yards and gardens back in shape, there are five residences which will have special guests arriving to see their gardens.

It's neither wildlife or butterflies, but tours of folks from Wharton, Sugar Land, Houston and Pasadena.

The fourth annual Wharton Hidden Garden Tour will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. the weekends of May 3, May 4, May 10 and May 11. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children under age 12.

This year's co-chairmen, Dana Black and Melinda Pekar, say they had no problem finding local folks willing to share their gardens for the tour.

"In fact, before last year's tour was over, we already had two families volunteering their gardens for this year," Black said. "Both Pat and Doc Blakely and Maureen and David Voulgaris families volunteered for this year's tour last year."

Other gardens on the tour include gardens the couple have heard about through word-of-mouth.

These include the gardens of Coi and Guy Guttenberger, Becky Smith and Suzanne Dworsky and Avalon Place Nursing Home.

It was good to get the tour off with two volunteers, said Black. She and Pekar began to work on this year's tour before last year's ended.

"We've visited the gardens and think we have some that people will really like," Black said. "We have a tropical garden, several country gardens and one which has exotic animals on view along with the garden."

Both agree that it takes a big commitment by the garden owners to be willing to open their sites for the tours.

This year the group also plans to have a banner out on Highway 59 to promote the event.

All funding raised through the tour is used to add beauty to the community.

"Funds have paid for benches and water fountains on the Santa Fe Trail and provides maintenance for the flower beds at the Wharton Community Civic Center," Black said. "This year we would like to see funding go to keeping up the beds at the Wharton County Library."

Black says all the group wants is to "make Wharton prettier and better."

Advance tickets are available during business hours at the Wharton Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, Wharton County Historical Museum, Charles Chambers

State Farm Office and all local

banks. Wharton Hidden Garden Tour cochairmen Dana Black, right, and Melinda Pekar have spent hours on their phones getting everything in place for this year's tour which will be on May 3-4 and May 10-11.