Gardens galore!

Introducing the Costellos, Davises, Johnsons and Roemers: Four couples with four diametrical gardens. These gardeners share in common a passion for the outdoors and a love of wildlife, plus their membership in ECO (Environmental and Conservation Organization). From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday the public will enjoy an opportunity to explore their private gardens, as well as the 26-acre grounds of Flat Rock's Highland Lake Inn.

Piggybacking on the mission of the National Wildlife Federation, ECO encourages backyard habitats. All but the Roemers' property is thusly designated. A collective theme in the 2006 garden tour is an extensive use of native rock and boulders together with water gardens. Nevertheless, the personalities of the gardeners have engendered five distinct environments.

Rock of ages

Exposed sections of monolithic bedrock accent the property of James and Kathryn Costello. Nearer the home, formal gardens feature stands of bamboo, copious elephant's foot, and cascading water terminating in a pool -- home to dozens of comets and shubunkin goldfish. Water lilies, lotus, arrowhead, papyrus and iris garnish the waterscape. Stonework includes regional granite and Tennessee fieldstone, "Although some refer to it as Virginia fieldstone," James adds.

Master Gardener and ikebana aficionado James Costello, a retired patent attorney with the DuPont Company, reclaims rainwater with an elaborate drip system and a series of plastic barrels. "For the pond," Costello says. Screened latticework girds a space beneath a closed-in deck, deterring mosquitoes from breeding in the standing water. The space also provides a winter environment for temperature-sensitive water plants.

Virginal woods flank a shaded, oak-leaf-mulched trail where one is apt to spot both familiar and unusual native plants as well as tufts and carpets of verdant mosses. The Costellos have capitalized on one of the enormous lichen-encrusted bedrock features, creating an inviting trailside nook with a bench for enjoying reflective moments.

During the tour, look for crimson bee-balm, honeysuckle, wild geranium and peonies, mountain laurel and colorful birds including painted bunting, purple finch, scarlet tanagers and bluebirds.

Forever views

Perched on a lofty crest in Laurel Park, Dr. Tom and Jane Davis' home proffers commanding views of mountain panoramas, including 50-mile-distant Mt. Mitchell. The 7.5-acre property is an arboretum of native shrubs and wildflowers. Moreover, there's a berry patch, an herb garden, raised vegetable beds and judicious plantings of unusual hybrids. Tom, a retired cardiologist and also a pomologist, maintains an orchard of heritage apple trees.

Two of the Davis' pathways meander between banks of native wildflowers, many of which bloom between early and late spring. Those species include trillium, Solomon's seal, hepatica, bellwort, toothwort and May-apple. Flowers in evidence during the ECO tour: Native hydrangeas, maple-leaved viburnum, sweet shrub, goats-beard, Joe-pye-weed and a showy member of the Composite Family, green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum). Native ferns and various grasses grace the spaces between.

The Davises use only organic fertilizers and insecticides. "I apply insecticidal soap frequently and lavishly," says Jane Davis, retired attorney and a Master Gardener. "And we use organic products such as Serenade, a fungicide."

The Davis' arboretum furnishes an idyllic sanctuary for a myriad of critters. The couple supplements their avian residents' diets with thoughtful feeders, and the bluebirds' real estate preferences with special birdhouses. The pool at the foot of a waterfall furnishes a haven for frogs.

Inkberry (Ilex glabra) -- namesake of the Davis' street -- flourishes near the entrance of the home. "A Carolina native," Jane explains, "from the coastal regions." The holly-family shrubs produce tiny white flowers followed by black berries. Early settlers in the Carolinas produced ink from the berries.

The old mill stream

In 2000, Drew and Sue Johnson built a home on a slope above the east and west branches of Featherstone Creek -- which join on their property -- in Henderson County's Twin Brooks subdivision. Since settling in, Drew, working with a backhoe operator, has invested oodles of time terracing the slope with rock walls. Native ferns embellish the rockwork.

Johnson, a retired physician's assistant with Park Ridge Hospital, built a millhouse with an operating waterwheel. This mill stands at a bend of the serpentine creeks within view of semi-formal landscaping. Surrounded by moss-and-lichen-daubed bedrock and boulders, the mill scene serves also as an outdoor amphitheater, a venue for Drew's Mountain Praise Band. Included in the view of the millstream, a monolith measuring approximately 20x8x4-feet balances squarely on a smaller boulder. This, Johnson believes, was washed into its position by the great flood of 1916. An elaborate sound system allows for piped-in music between the gigs. Johnson also added accent and floodlighting to the natural landscaping.

Mostly hay-scented ferns punctuate the 16-foot-tall rock terrace above a creek coursing with white water viewable from a wooden bridge. Hemlock and deciduous canopies plus under-stories of mountain laurel and wild rhododendron soften the rocky landscape, a natural-looking environment home to feathered and furry creatures. Ducks frequent the creeks, and the Johnsons have spotted in their midst rose-breasted grosbeaks, bluebirds, pileated woodpeckers and cardinals.

Offsetting the context of wilderness with rushing water, freshly planted annuals include hundreds of impatiens and petunias. Roses, hostas, moss roses and Purple Emperor sedum count among the perennials.

Koi haven

When Dick and Betty Roemer moved from Virginia to Flat Rock, so did their school of nearly 60 koi. "This is their third pool," says Betty, who has kept the prized members of the carp family for decades. Betty helped found the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club, the largest organization of its kind in the U.S. for the last 15 years. The Roemers are currently members of the Piedmont Koi Club at Charlotte.

The Roemers' fish -- some more than two feet long and over 20 years old -- enjoy two environments: A swimming-pool-sized tarn at the rear of the home, and a naturalistic pond skirting either side of the entryway. One enters the home via a plank bridge across what appears to be a contiguous body of water, but which, instead, are two cleverly separated ponds. "One for koi, and the other for exotic goldfish," explains Dick Roemer.

Fronting the Roemers' home, the waterscaping is fed by manmade waterfalls, the goldfish pond sporting water lilies and lotus, and Japanese maples adorning the perimeters.

"We had 80 tons of rock from Marion delivered," says Dick, a retired engineer. The boulders are curvaceous, lending an indigenous, water-polished look to the environment.

The rear of the Roemers' property opens to mature woodlands planted conceptually along pathways with hostas, hydrangeas, daylilies, Carolina silver-bells and azaleas. Pines, hemlock and native rhododendron furnish a shady canopy.

Gardens with a history

In the mid-1800s, Charles Baring, one of the first Charlestonians to summer at Flat Rock, owned the property known now as Highland Lake Inn. With his wife Susan, Baring built Flat Rock's first summer home, "Mountain Lodge." After Susan's death, Charles married Constance Dent and built a home called "Solitude" on Mill Shoal above Rhett's Mill. After Baring's death, the property changed hands and in 1910, work began on the Highland Lake Clubhouse (spearheaded by Charlestonian Joseph Holt), a venue providing tourists with a rustic hotel with all the modern conveniences of that era. After two summers, the club went into decline, changing hands between the Fleetwood School for Boys, the Carolina Military Naval Academy and the Highland Lake Boys Camp. Various other camps followed. In 1985, the property became the Highland Lake Conference Center, and in 1999, Jack and Linda Grup purchased the real estate.

Today, 26 acres of the original estate are home to the Flat Rock resort. Gardens and grounds supervisor Bill Storms manages horticultural matters, including two acres of organic vegetable-and-herb gardens.

"We raise Jerusalem artichokes, zebra-striped tomatoes, fennel and other unusual vegetables," Storms says. "And we grow edible flowers, including nasturtium, calendula and pansies." The veggies, herbs and edible flowers count among the ingredients for the inn's Season's Restaurant.

Beyond produce, the rambling grounds of Highland Lake Inn encompass mature hemlocks, dogwoods, purple (Catawba) and white rhododendron, mountain laurel and several varieties of native shrubs. Formal gardens sport annuals and perennials, together with hybrid rhododendrons and azaleas.

Designated "wildlife friendly" by the National Wildlife Federation, the property is a pesticide-free home to American robins, bluebirds, mourning doves and cardinals -- and mallards and Canada geese that nest and feed along the shores of Highland Lake.

Want to go?

The ECO Garden Tour will take place rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $15 per person (children under 10, with a paying, watchful adult, will be admitted at no charge) and are available at the Visitors' Center, 201 S. Main St.; Butterfly Meadows Nursery in Pisgah Forest; Highland Lake Inn and the Asheville Chamber of Commerce/Visitors' Center.

The event is a self-driving tour. Begin your garden jaunt at any point and use the map (issued with tickets) to plan your route. All directions are from downtown Hendersonville. No restroom facilities are available, so plan to stop along your drive route for refreshments and necessities. Wear comfortable shoes appropriate for uneven terrain, slopes and narrow pathways. Plan to show your ticket at each garden. Volunteers will direct parking.

Garden etiquette

No pets allowed. Children are welcome but must be governed by an adult at all times. Visitors are expected not to touch plants, pick anything, or pull up plant labels for a closer look. The garden hosts and volunteers will be at the gardens and will be happy to answer questions and receive compliments.

ECO, its volunteers, garden hosts, employees and others associated are not responsible for the health and safety of Home Garden Tour participants. Ticket holders will participate in the Garden Tour at their own risk.

ECO is a nonprofit organization founded in 1987 that works for clean air and water, recreation, and the conservation and preservation of the natural heritage and resources of our mountain region. The Hendersonville Homebuilders Association and Macon Bank have underwritten the 2006 ECO Garden Tour to benefit ECO.

Visit www.eco-wnc.org for more information and a ticket order form, or call the ECO office at 692-0385.