A Summer gardens stroll around Lyons area (photo spread)
Let’s take a stroll around the Lyons Area and see some of the wonderful flower gardens around town. The weather has produced some of the biggest gardens ever, and kept the mountain and field grasses green right through August — very unusual!
Have you ever wondered who owns that delightful pink and green house off of Highway 36, down from where Rock N River motel use to be? Annie Mannering has a literal garden oasis there, with stone pathways, large healthy varied flowers, a creek, a shaded stone gazebo, and a redstone mountain backdrop. Annie says, “My garden has been the best I can remember in 48 years, I suppose all the rain. It still looks like Ireland with things growing all over each other.”
Everyone’s vegetable gardens this year seems to be growing in leaps and bounds. Beaver Brighton says he finally found the right thing to put on his trellis, making it the highlight of the charming garden patch. Six French bean plants on both sides.
Can we give Zengold’s the Award for best business garden in town?! Thanks to Gwynne Owen, of the old Gwynne’s Greenhouse, for cultivating such excellent soil, and leaving many of the perennials when she closed down the store… and thanks to the Zengold staff for their hours of work on providing a place of beauty. Zengold’s is a marijuana dispensary at the corner of Highways 36 and 66.
Photo by Kathleen Spring
We featured Linda Backup planting her garden in our Mother’s Day Stroll around Lyons. Her approximately one-acre garden, along the St. Vrain River, is now a jungle. She has hollyhocks and lilies blooming everywhere, taller than the fence, and the vegetable garden is a full cornucopia, with tons of corn. She is an organic farmer and doesn’t use pesticides. She uses lady bugs in her greenhouse, and flowers like alliums, basil and mint to help control the bugs.
You can walk down any street in Lyons, whether it’s in the older district downtown, or a hill top modern mansion, and you will find gardens that are accented by our Lyons red sandstone or the smooth river rocks. Many of the gardens on the Garden Club Tour this year used sandstone to dramatize their landscape.
Photo by Kathleen Spring
Let’s throw in some of the brilliant yellow flowers, too, that can be found around town! Bee Hugger farm on Highway 66 invites people to come by and pick their own flowers, and leave some money in the box. And the other yellow blossoms here can be found in front of the Lyons Community Library. They were planted by the Lyons Garden Club.
by Crystal White
Lyons Garden Club
The Lyons Garden Club “Bear Corner Garden” has been growing like crazy this year. Past member Anne O’Brien recalled back when they planted the seeds.
“It has been fun to make this happen,” said Anne, who now lives out of state, but occasionally stays in touch through Facebook and the newspaper. “The white flowers are gloriosa daisies, started from seed. Most of the yellow/red flowers are glorious daisies, also from seed. Still lots of flax, echinacea, butterfly weed, irises, Jupiter’s beard, chives, Mexican hats!
“So many memories of you all helping, so many seeds from Kathy’s garden,” Anne continues. “I remember all the hard but rewarding work those of us who started the Garden Club did and compliment the continued work the current ladies put in. Sue Wratten was one of the original members and Debbie Simms was early on. A definite garden that has evolved over 12 years.”
The Garden Club welcomes volunteers. There are three other groups in town that either garden or weed on public lands. See “Things To Do” for a list of days and connection info. It’s a great way to meet like-minded friends!
