“Ladies will enjoy the ultimate girls day or weekend out with gardens, seminars, an elegant tea, unique lunches, shopping, and a heartwarming play that will create loving bonds for a lifetime,” says Melissa Cloyd, Manager of Marketing and Advertising for the Department of Tourism, “husbands can also come and brush up on their gardening skills or history in Tennessee’s oldest town with a walking tour and a visit to our free museum located in the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center.”
Smelling your favorite flower and taking in a cool summer breeze makes outdoor living better than indoor living. This is the intent of the “Outdoor Living Spaces” theme for the 12th Annual Garden Gala on Saturday, May 24, 2008 in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Several porch gardens will be bursting with lush foliage and a variety of garden styles will be full of color to illustrate efficient water usage and scaled-back garden maintenance. There will be a Garden Marketplace, inspirational seminars, an exhibit on growing orchids, and an outdoor tea served 1:30pm-4pm. After the tour, enjoy the “hilarious and touching” play, “The Dixie Swim Club” at the Jonesborough Repertory Theatre, located on historic Main Street in Jonesborough. Friends of the theatre have said, “This is the next Steel Magnolias.”
Tickets for the afternoon tour and tea are priced at $12 in advance and $15 the day of the tour. A ticket for all three morning seminars is $5. Group rates are available. Tickets are available at the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center, 117 Boone Street. Purchase with Visa or MasterCard by calling 423-753-1010 or toll free 866-401-4223.
The Garden Marketplace, adjacent to the Visitors Center, will open at 9am with an all-day plant and garden accessory sale, which will be open to the public. Morning activities include three seminars beginning at 9:15am in the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center. At 12:30pm private gardens will open to the public.
Master Gardeners and members of the Southern Appalachian Plant Society will be at each garden to answer visitors’ gardening questions. The individual walking tours will be an opportunity to view more than 10 private gardens, varying in styles that include an English garden, organic gardens, and a special heritage garden. Trolley service will be provided for those with special needs.
“Orchids in Your Home,” provided by the Orchid Society of East Tennessee is another special exhibit designed to help you grow orchids with knowledgeable members on hand to answer questions about growing orchids.Between seminars and the afternoon garden tours, enjoy fabulous garden fare at any of Jonesborough’s numerous restaurants.
This daylong event is hosted and supported through volunteers from the Tuesday Garden Club, the Schubert Club, Northeast Tennessee Master Gardeners and the Southern Appalachian Plant Society.