The Saddlebrooke Gardening Club is well known for its wonderful garden tours, and April did not disappoint! We were fortunate to have several outstanding tours during this month, and one that we won’t soon forget was the beautiful garden of Scott and Sharon Metskas.
Scott and Sharon have lived in their home for over 20 years and have spent that time completely renovating their entire gardening space. They have both gone through Master Gardener training and were so generous with their time in talking with and educating the visitors wandering through their outdoor spaces.
We were greeted in the front yard by a “Big Bertha” trichocereus with its white blossoms fully opened. It was accompanied by a variety of other cacti including saguaro, Arizona barrel, hedgehog, prickly pear and agave.
Travelling through to the courtyard we were treated to the sights of a dwarf pomegranate tree, a Justica filled with orange flowers, and jade and hibiscus trees.
The backyard was stunning! The gorgeous mountain view had quite a bit of competition from the extensive rose garden in full bloom. This area has a large variety of cacti including cereus, fence post, several trichocereus in bloom and Peruvian old man. Interspersed with the cacti were wildflowers, succulents, and shrubs such as Jerusalem sage, dwarf bougainvillea and lantana. There were also two wonderfully fragrant jasmine bushes in full bloom.
Not much can beat touring a lovely garden on a warm spring morning. Throw in the pleasure of sharing this with fellow gardeners and you have a combination that is hard to beat.
To learn more about the Saddlebrooke Gardening Club, upcoming events, garden tours and membership, visit sbgardeningclub.weebly.com.
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