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Annual Betty Jane Monjar Mini Symposium and Garden Tour slated for Saturday in Bradford
By RYAN FIRKEL
Era Reporter
The annual Betty Jane Monjar Mini Symposium and Garden Tour is slated from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Bradford.
Sponsored and hosted by the First Presbyterian Church, the event will start with a lunch in the church auditorium from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., directly followed by a presentation on perennials from Pittsburgh horticulturist Thomas Parsons. By 1:30 p.m., garden tours will commence with gardens on Forman Street, Laurel Drive and South Kendall Avenue.
“The garden tour for the past few years has been alternating with a full symposium,” said Deborah Lowery, Betty Jane Committee spokeswoman. “This year with the mini symposium and the tour, people get the best of both worlds.”
The presentation on perennials will be Parsons’s first in Bradford. He has acquired degrees in horticulture from Penn State University and has worked in retail garden centers and building centers. Since 1992, Parsons has been the director of building and grounds at the National Aviary and also is an instructor of continuing education at the Allegheny County Community College and other vocational technical schools near Pittsburgh.
Started in 1995 by Betty Jane Monjar, the garden tour has been an annual event for any avid gardener. On the tenth year, the committee and event officially adopted the existing name and logo in honor of the founder, Betty Jane Monjar.
“We get people from all over the area,” said Rebecca Ryan, committee member.
After the presentation, guests are provided with a map for self-guided tours of this year’s gardens that entail: Dan and Sandy O’Brien’s garden at 15 Forman St., Thomas and Edith Urban’s garden on 24 Laurel Drive, and Harold and Carol Newman’s garden at 272 South Kendall Ave.
The O’Brien garden has been shown on previous garden tours, but has recently expanded and constructed new attractions, including a waterfall and coy pond. Self-taught gardeners, the O’Briens have used many tactics to use space cautiously creating a walled garden that feels roomy.
The Urban garden was also a previously toured but with significant additions, including a large collection of hasta, flowering shrubs and perennials, this organic garden offers a new look for former tour participants.
The only garden not previously part of the tour is owned by Harold and Carol Newman, and includes a gazebo, newly-planted rose garden and rock steps and pathways. At only seven years in the making, the Newman garden is the newest garden on the tour.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at the church or local businesses.
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