A: 265 Union Street North - The Columbarium Garden and Historic Sanctuary at Forest hill United Methodist Church

The columbarium and resurrection garden at Forest Hill United Methodist Church is the place where old meets new while keeping important traditions. The Buffalo Avenue sanctuary, built in 1888, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. To the existing garden, long a favorite for Easter sunrise services, was added the columbarium in 2000. Visitors to the garden will encounter a wrought iron quatrefoil cross on the North garden wall. This cross is in keeping with the historic sanctuary's wrought iron fence which features a repeating quatrefoil motif.

A climbing hydrangea clings to the brick wall below the quatrefoil cross. Lenten roses, interspersed with daffodils and other bulbs in the beds below the cross, border the walkway. Hydrangeas, two beautiful dogwoods, and a large holly shade the beds below the columbarium. Opposite the columbarium is a wrought iron trellis on which yellow jasmine climbs.

The Japanese maple in front of the columbarium wall was planted in memory of the first person whose remains were placed in the columbarium, Raymond Williams, in 2000. The beautiful fountain was a later addition in memory of James Ballard. The wooden benches invite visitors to come and enjoy quiet meditation in any season below the busy street level of North Union.

B: 235 Union Street North - Carey Carroll

Featuring food from C'est La Vie

This is a young garden-only three years old. It is still in its infancy and the placement of plants is always changing. The front and side gardens are on tour. Coming up the front walk you will see containers filled with roses, clematis, grasses and various annuals. Across the front of the porch there are beds of gardenias, star flowers, daphne and cone flowers. There is a perennial garden around the front tree with bee balm, lantana, balloon flowers, geraniums, hostas, annuals and some surprises. The front side garden has various types of hydrangeas, cone flowers, dahlias, camellias, roses, clematis, coreopsis and some mystery bulbs. Follow the stone path down the side where there are irises, alliums, baby's breath, peonies, hydrangeas, ginger, ferns, astible, daylilies, lily trees, begonias, roses and of course, a surprise or two returning after winter.

C: 27 Academy Avenue Northwest - Kristin Gallagher


Featuring food from The Junior Charity League Cookbook committee

The main intent for this cottage garden is to provide food sources for butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other wildlife. Five years ago the framework for this backyard garden was created by removing grass and installing stone pathways. Planted with mostly native and drought-tolerant perennials, the garden is easily maintained. Space is at a premium here and vegetables and herbs mingle in to fill the bare spots. (Yes, that might be okra growing up through the butterfly bushes!) With a variety of interesting plants, this garden will capture your imagination.

D: 120 Union Street North - Ralph McLaughlin


Featuring food from Union Street Bistro

Ralph shares his 1916 Dutch colonial home with his "girls" Lilly and Rosie, since the passing of his beloved wife of 55 years, Peggy Love McLaughlin, in early 2008. Ralph and Peggy moved into their North Union Street home in 2001 after a two-year restoration project. The lawn and garden remained in a state of neglect as work on the house progressed, but an oak tree leaning precariously toward the front porch roof during an ice storm prompted a complete landscape re-design. The bare spot left by the tree's removal gave Peggy, a noted local watercolor and mixed media artist, ideas for the flowers that could be put in its place. The garden remains a painter's delight, producing vivid spring and summer colors with irises, tulips, daylilies, roses, daffodils, hydrangeas and more. Several varieties of hostas provide a lush green backdrop. The camellia bushes that provide winter color were here before the McLaughlins. In fact, the property was known for its camellias in the front and back yards. Two dwarf Japanese maples have a long heritage with the McLaughlins, as they were first planted at the family home in Charlotte in the late 1970s by John, their youngest son, who was in the landscaping business. John died at age 21 in a car accident and Ralph has carefully transplanted the trees each time he and Peggy have moved. When touring the McLaughlin garden, note the large pineapple Peggy painted on the floor of the front porch. This symbol of hospitality, well-worn by family and friends over the last eight years, has been restored for this occasion by the artist's daughters in her memory.

E: 116 Union Street North - Elaine and Jim Robb


Featuring food from Supper

Elaine and Jim Robb view their eclectic garden as a work in progress. The welcoming home has a traditional wrap-around veranda that is flanked by mature knockout rose bushes and offers garden views of the front and side lawns. Rock landscaping brings the front and back lawns together, minimizing the visual transition and making use of herbs as groundcover. Traditional plantings in the yard include roses, camellias, gardenias, azaleas and hydrangea. The back yard is anchored by a stalwart survivor of the Dutch elm disease that decimated most of the local elm population in the early 1900s. Several of this tree's offshoots survive in the neighborhood, including two in the Robbs' front yard. The back yard also features Elaine's interest in herbs with topiaries including bay and myrtle. Her canary yellow vintage "gardening van" is a visual staple of the back yard's parking pad. Elaine uses the van to haul dirt, plants and gardening tools back and forth from her various area garden and church landscaping projects. The narrow gardening area between the Robbs and their next-door neighbor features a collection of ferns-a theme that flows back around to the front porch. The garden boasts a fun array of bird feeders and houses, potted plants, trellises and other outdoor implements that express the Robbs' casual elegance and down-to-earth love of nature and simplicity.

F: 97 Grove Street - Kevin and Casey Killough


Featuring food from The Ibis

We purchased the second A.R. Hoover home, a craftsman style home built in 1912, in July 2007 from TC and Mary Plexico. The home had been used as the St. James Parsonage for several decades, and the Plexicos resided in the home for 50 years. In the front and back yards, there was an overgrowth of boxwoods that needed to be addressed. We kept a combination of American and English boxwoods in the front, some of which are said to be over 50 years old. In the back yard we removed over 40 large boxwoods that had overtaken the walkways and patios. We used similar elements in the front and the back to tie the two areas together. The front yard welcomes you with a large four tier fountain that attracts a lot attention from both onlookers and birds. The back patio also has a fountain that was refurbished and works beautifully now! A holly hedge encloses the front yard and beds of vibrant annuals are placed throughout the entire property. We also transplanted a neglected Japanese maple to the front corner of the yard. A dwarf magnolia was planted with the new landscape to balance a mature camellia bush. We uncovered a walkway down the side of the house that now connects the front yard to the back. The walkway includes ferns, hostas, and a fig tree that was discovered after a lot of overgrowth was removed. We live outdoors much more than we do indoors, so we have a great appreciation for a beautiful yard and look forward to the changes with every season.

G: 50 Spring Street - Memorial Gardens


Memorial Garden was purchased in 1804 by First Presbyterian Church for construction of its first sanctuary. The original building, built in 1810 on the highest point of the property, was a twelve-sided log structure. Other church buildings were erected later with the rapidly growing congregation eventually moving to North Union Street in the 1920s. Through the birth and decline of these early buildings, the graveyard was neglected. In 1930, Mrs. Sallie Phifer Williamson started restoring the cemetery as a memorial to her mother and renamed it Memorial Garden. After her death in 1937, her son Marshal Phifer Williamson continued maintenance of the garden until his death in 1966. The garden is now maintained through a generous trust fund bequeathed by Mr. Williamson at his death.

H: 139 Hillcrest Avenue - Mark D. Frye & Eric L. Martin

Featuring food from The Sweet Life

The garden at 139 Hillcrest Avenue was begun by its original owner, Mrs. Esther Moore who built the English cottage-style house in 1950. Every tree in the front and back yards is a white dogwood tree. Mrs. Moore personally excavated these specimens from the ravine behind the property and planted them herself. Also original to the property are the beautiful nandina shrubs which line half of the back yard overlooking the terrace. Since the house was purchased in 2007, care has been taken to make sure ongoing additions to the garden match the existing garden and the English-cottage style of the house. The first project in the garden was the geometric defining of the large beds in the front yard which included the dogwood trees already in place and the addition of other perennials. A patio was added in the backyard with seating for four around a bistro table under the shade of one of the largest dogwood trees on the property. Perhaps the most unique feature of the garden is the lower terrace that extends the width of the back of the lot and lies at the bottom of eight steps that descend from the backyard. Originally just a grassy extension of the Moore's backyard, this area was made more usable by the addition of a large deck in November 2008. The deck overlooks the ravine which likens to being in the mountains. Three water features have also been added: one at the front door, one on the side of the driveway, and a large garden fountain at the foot of the driveway in the back yard.