Unique yards highlighted on Garden Tour in Marquette

MARQUETTE -- The 29th annual Garden Tour was timed just right on Thursday.

The day began with a heavy rainfall, but things cleared up to sunny skies in time for the tour, which is put on annually by the Marquette Beautification & Restoration Committee Inc.

Six stops in the city of Marquette and Marquette Township, as well as a refreshment stop at the Peter White Public Library, gave visitors a chance to view some of the area's most beautiful yards, some of which come with water features and decorative art.

One of the gardens is tended by Matthew Koss, who lives at 356 E. Crescent St., Marquette.

"This is an engineered waterscape," Koss said.

Koss explained the intricate water system that fills his front yard.

Water is caught off the roof, Koss said, plus an underground cistern holds 400 gallons. A 5,000-gallon-per-hour high-efficiency pump feeds the wetland filter, which keeps the water "gin clear."

There are benefits with water that moves.

"The running water keeps mosquitoes from hatching," Koss said.

The pond, he noted, holds about 1,000 gallons of water.

All this water attracts a lot of wildlife, Koss said, including amphibians such as frogs and at least one blue-spotted salamander. In fact, a green frog made an appearance during the Garden Tour. The garden also attracts toads and gray tree frogs.

The Koss garden has flowers, too, such as wild bergamot, common milkweed, horsetail and blazing star.

Kaye Hiebel, an MBRC member, helped with Thursday's tour by volunteering at the garden of Joanne Trembath at 235 Fisher St., Marquette.

She said people took advantage of the break in the rainy weather to visit the gardens, even though the temperatures hit the 80s in the early afternoon.

"We've had a really good turnout," Hiebel said. "There's a little bit of a breeze, which helps."

What provided some respite was the backyard of Jeanmarie Soderberg, who lives at 1024 N. Front St., Marquette. The heavily shaded yard includes numerous hostas, astilbe and other plants. On the other hand, the front yard, visible to drivers on Front Street, has plenty of sun that allows colorful flowers to flourish.

The Trembath garden features a "gnome home" by a large, cutoff tree trunk, plus flower buckets hanging from weathered window frames placed along the side of the house.

Gary Bell, who loves at 1201 Tierney St. in Marquette, also has a sunny front yard and a shaded backyard, both of which are home to numerous plants such as raspberries and impatients.

The three-story home of Mark Canale, 902 W. Bluff St. in Marquette, is in the 1980 Queen Anne style on a corner lot that offers expansive views of the gardens. Shrubs in the Canale garden include hydrangea, burning bush, rhododendron and other ornamental shrubs. It also has perennials such as lilies and irises, and pots of annuals on the porch.

Patty and Cal Barton, who live at 260 Chapel Ridge Road in Marquette Township, maintain a garden that now is in its sixth year, according to the tour brochure. It has many garden beds as well as a rock garden.

"There is always something blooming in the garden from crocuses to fruit trees to mums in the fall," reads the Barton garden description.

The Garden Tour is the main fundraiser for the MBRC's Petunia Pandemonium, which fills the area along U.S. 41 South with a variety of flowers every year.

For more information on the MBRC, visit mqtbeautification.org.