Tour gardens full of Indiana native plants

Eyeballs by Noblesville, Ind., artist Girly Steel (Joan Drizin) over see the Virginia sweetspire (Itea) in a Brownsburg, Ind., garden on this year’s native plant tour. © Photo submitted by Sue Arnold

One of the ways to tell if you like a plant is to see it growing, especially in a landscape setting.

That’s the idea behind Landscaping with Native Plants 2010 Garden Tour sponsored by the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society next Saturday.

“While we think the obvious advantages of being adapted to local climate and the benefits to wildlife are tremendous selling points for native plants, widespread use will ultimately depend on making people aware of their beauty in a garden. The best way to accomplish this is to give people an opportunity to see them,” said Tom Hohman, president of the statewide group.

The Central Indiana chapter had a tour for members only last year to test organizational efforts, crowd control and other details. The success led to a tour of six gardens this year that is free and open to the public.

Three members selected the gardens based on several factors, such as design or small or large spaces. At least 50 percent of the plants had to be native species, said Kelly Spiegel, an INPAWS member who was on the selection committee.

“Our long term goal is to eventually have these tours located all over the state, all occurring on the same day,” Hohman said. “This will take some time to develop, but we want to expand it each year with that long term goal in mind.” As a step in that direction, the East Central chapter will have a tour of two Anderson, Ind., -area gardens the same day.

The tours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday. Registration is required. For details, please visit the Web site.