BY JOETTE KUNSE
Special to the Clarkston News
Kathy Haefner wanted to bring the pastel colors from inside her home to her garden plantings. And she has been successful with her choices in creating a peaceful setting for her family and the wildlife that abound her property. Haefner’s garden will be one of six featured on the Clarkston Garden Walk this month.
The Haefner home is elevated above the street level with a curving stone stairway leading to the home’s front door. A carpet of begonias in light pink welcome the visitor to the garden with a window box of impatiens.
When Kathy and Bill Haefner built their home 13 years ago, Kathy says, she remembered her grandmother’s garden and copied the flowers she saw in the garden. ‘The garden has just flowed,? she says since its inception.
Another of Haefner’s loves is angels are found in her home and in her garden. An angel greets you as you enter the garden flanked by hostas and Shirley Temple peonies. Behind the peonies are forget me knots and a kitty cemetery where some of the beloved friends of the Haefners rest.
‘Twenty-three angels, a frog fishing and an elf reside in the garden,? says Haefner. The visitor to the Haefner garden will find an angel peacefully sleeping by a garden bridge as well as an angel reading in the peaceful garden.
Through the painted ferns and hostas, the visitor may get a glimpse of the pond in the dense woods that surround the back of the Haefner property and offers privacy to the garden. As you climb the steps up to the patio, you’ll find wooly thyme growing between the rocks for a natural look.
The Haefner’s garden is inhabited by the wildlife living in the woods. A chipmunk was spotted sitting atop the head of an angel surveying the plant life. Haefner is praying that the deer and other creatures forage somewhere besides her garden for the next two weeks.
Old favorites of Haefner’s childhood, lilies of the valley, are planted by beautiful astilbes on the edge of the garden. Mandevillas and hibiscus help to add color to the Haefner’s patio and Haefner’s grandmother’s favorite flower, poppies are given the sunny spot in the garden.
The Clarkston Garden Walk is Wednesday, July 10, from 12-8 p.m. The extra hour will allow people who work to visit the lovely gardens open for the walk. Tickets for the walk are $15 until the day of the walk and are available at Bordines in Clarkston, KH Home, the Birdfeeder, Clarkston Chamber of Commerce, and Clarkston Country Store, all on M-15. On the day of the walk, tickets are $18 and available only at the Clarkston Independence District Library beginning at 11:30 a.m.
In addition to the walk, area restaurants have Garden Walk specials for participants and an Artisan Market with garden art, and garden related items is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Clarkston Independence District Library grounds, 6595 Clarkston Road.
Proceeds from the walk are used to provide college scholarships for Clarkston area students, grants for Clarkston Community Schools? teachers, programs for elementary students, plantings for the Main Street planters and the library gardens.
For more information check www.clarkstongardenclub.org or call 248 625 9665.