Secret Garden Tour

July 2007

	Debbie Thompson 615 Broadway "I’m not the typical gardener." By that, Debbie means she is not a trained "Master Gardener" but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her gardens. Debbie enjoys experimenting, trying this plant here, something there, and describes her garden as "a perennial garden that changes perennially." A ceramics teacher, she shows off her students’ cast-off ceramic tiles, which march along in a colorful parade along her fence. Remembering her mother’s love of gardening, Debbie has saved her mother’s iris and other plants, which she shares with friends as she divides them. Her Nishiki Willow stops you in your tracks as you enter her beautiful garden rooms.
Linda Eliason 819 Central Ave. Linda is no newcomer to garden tours, having been on one of Duluth’s garden tours last year. When she and her husband, Leroy, moved to this location several years ago, their house was the only one on the block, giving her a fresh, blank canvas to create her art of gardening. Mindful of color, Linda loves chartreuse paired with a complementary color, like golden Barberry and Diablo Ninebark. She also likes to use interesting "found" items, such as an old chair or chandelier to create little settings. A retired teacher, Linda has created a garden for her grandchildren.
	Kathy Laakso and Ted Pellman 906 N. 19th Kathy and Ted love summer because their back yard becomes an extension of their house by creating "rooms" made up of patios and seating spaces. Ted, a scenic videographer, stumbles upon interesting treasures during his work travels off the beaten path. Kathy’s theatrical side creates settings or montages out of these recycled cast-offs. The fence that creates a country setting in the middle of the city was built by recycling fences that Ted found ready to be hauled off to the landfill. In fact, all of their garden décor was found through their love of yard sales and flea markets. Their view is, why shop at a home and garden store when the thrill of the hunt is more exciting?
Maggie Flowers 1 Golf View Drive Owner of Maggie Flowers Interior Design in Duluth, Maggie takes her knowledge of aesthetics to the outdoors with waves of iris, lilies, peonies and groundcover sedum, divided by meandering paths. Maggie dug the paths herself, adding a drain tile three feet down. A tea house sits between the expansive flower gardens and vegetable garden, its two walls of glass giving a beautiful view of both. Living out in a country-like setting right across from the Nemaji Golf Course, Maggie sprays her deer-loving plants with a mixture of Tabasco, garlic, cinnamon and eggs. Pictured, one of Maggie’s many sculptures pops up to greet you.
	Michael Barbee 1012 N. 12th Street About three years ago, Mike was caring for a gravely-ill friend, who asked him if he could plant "just a couple flowers." Mike told him of course he would. "But obsessive me, I couldn’t stop." He adds, "It was the best gift he could’ve given me." In what he describes as a cross between a cottage and a courtyard garden, Mike has created a charming and cozy niche in a very small space, planting several Clamatis, grapevines, iris, sedum and a Nishiki Willow on the east side of his house. Also an artist, he has painted a mural on the wall, depicting a landscape as backdrop to his secret garden.
Kelly Reed 5203 E. 3rd St. Kelly’s strong belief in the power of positive thinking is inherent in her tranquil gardens. A deck off the side of her house, the former Itasca Masonic Temple, holds seating for outdoor meals and conversation. Steps lead you to a secluded lower level of serene beauty, its oriental influence leading the eye naturally to pools of color and statuary. Vines of Virginia Creeper, Hops and grapevines provide dappled sunlight to the meditative seating area. Beyond this area is Kelly’s newest venture in gardening, conceived by her conviction that life holds opportunities if you act upon your wishes. A Master Gardener of Superior, Kelly works at Edelweiss Landscaping and Nursery and Garden Images.

Superior’s Secret Garden Tour

Instead of our Home and Building tour in the fall, we will host a Secret Garden Tour on Saturday, July 14, from 10:00 to 2:00. First, stop at the Douglas County Historical Society headquarters, where you can buy your tickets, which are $10.00, receive a brochure of garden locations and sign up for a drawing to win an “I Love Gardening” basket of goodies. Take a look at our front garden, which was designed by Mary Windsor of Missinne Greenhouse and Landscaping and planted by the Superior Master Gardeners. Then, using a map on the brochures, continue to view seven of Superior’s eclectic and beautiful gardens. This “secret” garden tour features ponds, Japanese influence, perennial gardens, a cottage garden and a relaxing, meditative garden. Enjoy a glass of lemonade, visit with fellow gardeners and learn a gardening tip or two.

Superior has many stories of its impressive gardens and beautification efforts. One story takes place on a January day during a blizzard in 1900, when T.J. Roth, one of the founders of Roth’s Department store, had a visit from a salesman from Chicago. The man was selling American Beauty rose bushes by the thousand lots. Whether Mr. Roth felt sorry for the man who sold rose bushes in January or was impressed with the man’s optimism, we don’t know, but he finally bought 500 bushes and marked them $1.50 per half dozen and spent $75.00 advertising them in The Evening Telegram.

Sales didn’t go so well that winter so he lowered the price to two bushes for 25 cents with a guarantee that if they didn’t bloom in six weeks the consumer could have his money back. He sold 250 bushes; the rest of his inventory died. The next year the store sold 2000 and the following years, 3000.

A few years later a Minneapolis salesman talked Mr. Roth into stocking flower and vegetable seeds, which sold for a penny a package. Sales were slow until children took an interest in gardening and talked their parents into buying them. Roth seeds “took root” and soon the store was selling as many as 40,000 packages.

In 1910 Roth rented the Grand Opera House, where Chicago landscape artist, Mr. Weed (no kidding), gave a talk with pictures on how to plant shrubs. Mr. Weed planned the landscaping in Roth’s Hammond Avenue home. This started an interest in yard beautification in Superior, and soon Roth Brothers Department Store was selling nearly 60 different varieties of trees and bushes such as lilacs, spirea, honeysuckle and snowballs. Roth had another great idea – plant bushes and trees in the city to hide ugly areas, such as stable entries and messy yards. Soon Mr. Weed was back to design the Hammond Avenue boulevard. The Superior Garden Club’s first flower show was held in front of Roth’s Department Store on 14^th and Tower.

We can thank Robert Kelly, Sr. for the many city parks Superior has. Known as the father of the Superior park system, Kelly held the position of Park Commissioner from 1899 to just before his death on January 6, 1916. Before his appointment, there really wasn’t a park system in place, except on paper, with a new park ordinance. As a manager of the United States Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Company and vice president of the First National Bank and representative of non-resident owners of city property, his many personal contacts enabled him to acquire land for park development. Of these contacts were the owners of the Billings Estate. A pet project, it was Kelly’s intention to create a scenic drive that encircled the entire city. Billings Drive was built at the expense of the owners of the property. Kelly was also the driving force behind Hammond Park, dedicated to General John Hammond, Central Park, Washington Park, Gouge Park, and a park on Eighth Street and Grand, christened Kelly Park immediately after his death.

Later, his daughter, Mabel Kelly Stratton continued his work in city beautification and park development. In 1926, Mrs. Stratton created and was president of the first garden club, known as the Garden Club of Superior. When membership grew, the club divided into auxiliaries under the umbrella of the Superior Garden Club Council, on which she served as the first president. She was also the first woman to serve on the Superior Park Board and was on the first City Plan Commission. She served on these commissions for seven and three years, respectively, until her husband’s death in 1945, after which she created memorial gifts to Superior Memorial Hospital, Central United Methodist Church and to the Douglas County Historical Society.