Garden Club Extravaganza scheduled for June
During the spring of 2020, several Bella Vista residents were busy preparing for the Bella Vista Garden Club Extravaganza. Then the covid shutdown happened and, in spite of all the preparation that had been done, the event was canceled. In 2021, it was canceled again. But this year the Garden Club is ready to move forward.
The Garden Club Extravaganza will be a tour of seven local gardens, each with its own theme, Co-Chair Judy Jefferies said. It’s a fundraiser for the club, but it is also an opportunity for the club to give back to the community. The other cochair is Virginia Vance.
The Extravaganza will begin on June 11 at 10 a.m. with a welcome center located at Creek’s Nursery on McNelly Road. Tickets can be purchased there for $15, but club members will be selling advance tickets for $10. Each ticket holder will probably get a bracelet that will allow them to enter all seven sites.
Garden Club members will help host at each garden. In most cases, the homeowner will also be on hand to answer questions. Most gardeners are happy to talk about their gardens, she said. They like to share their enthusiasm with others.
Ticket holders drive themselves to each location and help with parking is available at each site. Only one site is not handicapped accessible, Jefferies said. The gardens are located all over Bella Vista. Two are east of Highway 71 and the other five are on the west side.
The themes range from a pollinator garden to the “Power of Threes” where everything is planted in groups of three. There is also a woodland garden, a meditation garden and one that features Italian style terraces and sculpture. Three of the seven were prepared to participate in 2020.
The Garden Club funds several scholarships for students of horticulture. They also sponsor several community beautification projects like the Bella Vista daffodils. The club didn’t name the flowers, but they have planted dozens of Bella Vista daffodil bulbs at many public buildings in the area. They also make the bulbs available for local residents to purchase during the bulb planting season.
Members of the Garden Club maintain gardens at the cemetery, the Veterans Wall of Honor and a Blue Star Memorial at the Bella Vista Welcome Center on Highway 71. They sponsor the Yard of the Month award and run garden therapy events at local nursing homes.
The club meets monthly during the cool weather months. For more information, visit their web page at bellavistagardenclub.com.