In the 18 months I’ve written the Rockford Regional Report for Chicagoland Gardening magazine, numerous readers have emailed and called asking to see my garden.  I decided that a garden tour would be the best response to all the requests.  I scheduled one for July 23, knowing that most of the showy perennials would be at their prime then.  I wasn’t ready for the number of people who drove out to Roscoe on that steamy Thursday morning, though.  Two garden clubs in Boone County and one from Rockford were represented, along with Jane Snively of Klehm Arboretum and a few other horticultural professionals.  I stopped counting heads at about 55 and started passing the cookies and lemonade.

The sign is my husband’s idea of a joke; he insisted on 

erecting it for the tour.

     The most asked-about plants were the flowering thyme in the rock garden and ‘Mardi Gras’ sneezeweed (Helenium).  ‘White Flame Big Kiss’ gazania was a hit, too, as was ‘Pink Shira’ hydrangea, which sports huge heads of vivid pink blossoms that are edged in chartreuse.  Visitors were encouraged to pick and take home any weed they saw.  This was a polite group, regrettably, as few weeds disappeared.  As the last of the group left about noon, thunderheads started rolling in.  An hour later, the skies opened, lightning lit the skies and high winds knocked down Oriental lilies, bee balm and phlox.  Timing was perfect for the garden tour.

—Doreen G. Howard