Story and Photos by Jim Ritch –
Sunny skies and warm temperatures made for picture-perfect strolls through the five stops of the Eastern Shore Garden Tour Saturday, April 24.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, organizers halved the usual number of tickets, from over 1,000 to about 500, and switched to bracelets from printed tickets.
The stops this year were 100 Creekside Lane, Cape Charles; the Flower Design Show, at Bay Creek’s Life Center, Cape Charles; the former Cobb Island Coast Guard Station, Oyster; Eyre Hall, Cheriton; and the Barrier Islands Center, Machipongo.
-
- Susan Henderson, of Machipongo, adjusts a bridal bouquet she made as a prototype for a bouquet her grandniece will carry down the aisle later this year.
-
- Sherry Wrucke, of Cape Charles, photographs tulips in the formal garden behind Eyre Hall.
-
- Steve Bennett, owner of one of the tour homes, directs visitors.
-
- Paula Henao, of Cape Charles, right, points to a lacy leaf maple, one of several layers of maple trees in the garden of Steve and Nan Bennett. With her at left is Mary Fleming, of Virginia Beach.
-
- Cheryl Gresham, of Accomac, stands by a small portion of her long, “stretch” arrangement of wild clematis, creeping fig, and flowering dogwood. Gresham and her co-designer, Lynn Calvert, of Belle Haven, have worked together about 20 years.
-
- Susan Price, of Bayford, adjusts a three-pot, “Synergistic” arrangement, tied together with segments of a vine called Harry Lauder Walking Stick. The vine, plus azalea blossoms, and kerria from local yards made up most of the arrangement.
-
- Volunteers Martha Sutherland, of Accomac, left, and Catie Hubbard, of Cape Charles, admit visitors.
