Communities in bloom for third annual Garden Tour

Posted on June 3, 2023 By Editor Social Events, Top Stories

Riverside and Avondale neighbors’ dirt, foliage and blooms were on full display during Riverside Avondale Preservation’s third annual Garden Tour on May 13. Sue, Ellen and Tom Holbert made it a family event as they biked between stops on the self-guided tour.

Guests walked, biked and drove throughout the Riverside and Avondale communities to explore the gardens participating in the third annual Garden Tour on Saturday, May 13.

The event, hosted by Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP), celebrated homeowners’ green thumbs and landscaping designs rather than the homes’ interiors and histories that were the focal point of RAP’s Home Tour in April.

Originally created as an alternate to the Home Tour during the pandemic, the Garden Tour has since evolved into an event in its own right. This year, RAP Executive Director Shannon Blankinship said more than 500 people participated in this self-guided tour.

Homeowners Amanda Pinero-Trombly and husband Donald Trombly and pup Tonka participated in the Garden Tour for the first time this year.

“What always surprises me about the Garden Tour is that each person has a different favorite property from the next,” she wrote in an e-mail following the event. “Deciding what will be ‘inspiring’ is hard to determine, but the positive feedback from gardeners and neighbors from the 2023 Garden Tour is good news for a greener, healthier Riverside Avondale. The scavenger hunt was a fun way to encourage folks to seek out unique garden items and was a fun add-on to the event.”

The Garden Tour was, for many, a perfect Mother’s Day gift. Donna Behrman drove up from Tallahassee to join her daughter, Madi Gardner, on the Garden Tour for the first time.

“It’s been really fun,” Behrman said.

“Mom is a master gardener and I just strive to follow in her footsteps,” Gardner said. “I’m a baby gardener.”

Madi Gardner celebrated Mother’s Day a day early by taking her mother and “master gardener” Donna Behrman, on the RAP Garden Tour.

Tiffany Bess from Apple Rabbit Compost helps Samuel and his brother Andy get their hands dirty for the Garden Tour scavenger hunt.

The tour featured 11 different stops at various gardens, most at private residences but some at businesses or public spaces, including the Riverside Avondale Community Garden on Azalea Terrace. There, Tiffany Bess, founder of Apple Rabbit Compost, educated visitors about the importance and benefits of composting. Bess explained that Apple Rabbit Compost already maintains a “pretty close connection” with RAP through the Riverside Arts Market, but this is the first year it has participated with the Garden Tour.

“Getting to actually get involved with the garden, where the food grows, and getting to educate people who are looking to do the ‘rot’ thing, that’s been really rewarding to me,” she said.

Bess shared information about her own plot she rents at the garden, which grows a variety of herbs and vegetables, and discussed the importance of community gardens.

“I really think community gardens in all forms are important because you’re coming together and you’re revitalizing community outreach,” she said. “You’re getting involved with your neighbors. You’re talking to Kyle who owns that plot over there and Debbie who came and picked some green beans earlier today. You’re kind of getting that community feel that I think, in our current society, could be lacking sometimes; there’s a disconnect. Being able to bond over soil and veggies is a very natural thing to do.”