Hundreds Tour Seven Fenton Area Gardens through Annual Open Gate Event

Kathy and Jim Mikuskas' garden in Tyrone Township was full of whimsical surprises for guests on the 's Summer Garden Tour on Sunday.

Kathy Mikuska made her own "bottle tree" after admiring the work of world-renowned glass blower Dale Chihuly. Bottle trees are a Southern folk tradition, to ward off evil spirits. Kathy Mikuska created a bottle tree garden, using deep blue-colored bottles.

Organizer Debbie Tegard-Harroun said all of the seven gardens on the tour were busy. A garden club member estimated around 700 people took the tour.

"I think it's doing great," Tegard-Harroun said. "Everybody seems to have very positive comments, and they're happy and smiling."

Participants were enjoying the event, braving the high-80s temperatures.

"It's nice to be outdoors and just enjoy the great weather and see the beautiful yards," said Sandra Chaffin, who lives off Lake Fenton.

Connie and Edward Boychuk, of Flushing, admired the bottle trees in the Mikuskas' garden.

"I love garden tours, and this is a good one," Connie Boychuk said. "This particular garden is adorable."

The Mikuskas' two-acre yard also includes a miniature Mr. McGregor's Garden, The Secret Garden, a Bunny Grotto in silver and pink and tiny Faerie Garden. Kathy Mikuska, who belongs to a poetry group and is a retired second grade teacher, combines literary and artistic elements into her garden.

"I designed all of it," she said. "I love all the children's stories. They're fun."

They began their garden 16 years ago are slowly replacing the hostas with deer-resistant plants, such as grasses and ferns. The shady, woodland gardens include red flowers, a color Kathy Mikuska loves, and pink, yellow, white and burgundy.

Another stop on the garden tour, off Lake Fenton, is the pride of Roberta Hopkins, who developed a love of gardening at a young age. "I probably planted my first seeds when I was 7 years old," she said. "They were cosmos. My father's side of the family were and still are farmers in the Thumb area. I think maybe gardening is in my blood.

"My mother was not a gardener. My father was not a gardener. My paternal great-grandfather had a beautiful yard when I was a child."

Hopkins' husband, Gary Hopkins, wanted the waterfall that is now the focal point of their garden.

In Fenton Township, Nancy Curtis, and her husband, Tom Curtis, had their garden on display.

"I think they're really great, to get ideas for improving your own yard or meeting other people who love to garden," Nancy Curtis said. "No matter how long you garden, there's always something new."

Her work includes a butterfly garden, complete with a butterfly house that she is waiting for butterflies to begin using. Flowers like hollyhocks and phlox attract butterflies to the Curtis' yard, along with lots of hummingbirds.

Fellow gardeners Gary and Beth Nelles, of Tyrone Township, have some large, glass flowers in their woodland garden. 

Gary Nelles said the koi pond in their garden, has a heater in the winter for the fish. Fishing line is strung over the pond in different areas to discourage great blue herons from spearing and eating the fish. The fishing line touches the birds' legs to make them fly off, he said.

The "star" of Diana and Dave Gibbons' garden, off Lake Fenton, is a 125-year-old oak tree. The towering giant shades their backyard. A feeder well-stocked with nuts and seeds attracts chipmunks, squirrels and birds to their yard, and containers of colorful flowers and vegetables accent the area.

Elizabeth Dickens' yard, in Fenton, features greens, whites, purples and blues, and herbs mentioned in Shakespeare's plays and poems. In addition, there is a pond with goldfish in her shady retreat. Malissa Bossardet's garden, also in Fenton, featured cottage flowers in the front, with a large backyard. There, Bossardet has a Chakra, or healing, garden, which uses colors and flowers such as phlox, red hot poker, morning glories, poppies and iris — based on South American and Indian healing systems.

The 2011 tour was dedicated to the memory of garden club member . Proceeds from the tour allow the Open Gate Garden Club to continue its community projects, which include the Canine and Memorial Gardens, Fenton High School Pond and nature Area and St. John Parish Outreach Program. In addition, the club plants annuals and tulips at in Fenton, and sponsors two Michigan State University Master Gardener Scholarships, along with four Junior Master Gardener Scholarships.