Community Corner

A Sneak Peek of This Weekend's Garden Tour

Get an inside look at two of the beautiful gardens on this weekend's annual Herndon Garden Tour.

As they say, sometimes you're even busier in retirement than you were when you were working.

For Aggie Francis of Herndon, that definitely seems to be true - especially when it comes to her gardening.

Aggie and her husband Joe say retirement has given them the time to focus on something they've really found themselves loving - their garden.

"When we retired about 14 years ago, that's when we really got into it," Aggie told Patch.

Aggie says, Joe especially is really loving it, especially when it comes to his prize orchids.

Aggie added, "It's really a fun, relaxing thing to do."

Aggie and Joe's garden at their home at 680 Dranesville Road is one of the gardens you can get an inside look at on this Sunday's annual Herndon Garden Tour.

"I really hope people enjoy it," Aggie said.

For Keven LeBlanc and Scott Mayhugh, this is their first time in the Garden Tour - but they are no strangers to opening up their home for the community to come on in and take a look around.

LeBlanc's and Mayhugh's Locust Street home has long been a popular one, and has been featured in the yearly Herndon Homes Tour around the holidays before.

"A lot of people really enjoy the way we decorate our home, around the holidays," LeBlanc told Patch. "We get a lot of foot traffic during the holidays, and people admiring our garden, so we were asked to be on the garden tour this year."

LeBlanc said he would best categorize their garden as "a city garden in a cottage style," with lots of mixed planting, and less of a formally organized feel.

LeBlanc said, they just love to fill their garden with all of their favorite things.

"I'd say our primary focus is in early spring planting," he said, with a lot of colorful, flowering plants like peonies, roses and lilies. "It really perks me up after a long winter."

A big feature of their garden is also their fruit-bearing plants, such as plums, peaches, lemon plants, figs and more.

Being that their home is in an area of Herndon that historically used to be filled with fruit farms when the town was first developing, LeBlanc said, "the fruit-bearing plants are kind of our homage to that."

LeBlanc's and Mayhugh's garden also features a rock garden, which children especially seem to love.

All in all, LeBlanc said he and Mayhugh like to think of their garden as "the poster garden for what you can do with a small space."

The Herndon Garden Tour is produced by the Cultivating Community Initiative, a program designed to encourage neighborhood beautification and build community spirit. All programs are developed through the input of resident volunteers.

This year's tour includes four homes:

  • Deb and Dave Heming, 917 Barker Hill Road
  • Bill and Janice Biggs, 310 Missouri Avenue
  • Keven LeBlanc and Scott Mayhugh, 818 Locust Street
  • Aggie and Joe Francis, 680 Dranesville Road

Admission to the self-guided tour is $10 in advance, or $15 on the day of the tour.  

Tickets are available in advance at the Herndon Community Center814 Ferndale Avenue; Herndon Florist, 716 Lynn Street; and ArtSpace Herndon, 750 Center Street. Tickets are also available the day of the tour at the Herndon Community Center, and at the tour locations.


FOLLOW HERNDON PATCH FOR THE LATEST NEWS AND EVENTS!

Facebook | Twitter | Daily & Breaking News E-mail Updates

Find out what's happening in Herndonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here