Luscious greenery, dazzling daylilies, fragrant flowers and shrubs, peaceful waterfalls, koi ponds, birdbaths and birdhouses, decorative decorations and arbors awaited visitors attending the Parkland Garden Club’s 19th annual garden tour July 15.

“Strolling through a Gardener’s Paradise” featured eight gardens, a creative demonstration, display of Japanese embroidery and silent auction.

Visitors touring the gardens were also treated to snacks and beverages.

The garden at the home of Christopher and Monica Baumer, of Allentown, began in 2009 and was completed in 2015.

Christopher Baumer, who owned a landscaping firm for 20 years, said when he first started to transform his yard it was nothing but grass.

“Landscaping has been my passion, so I had to have a beautiful yard for me to enjoy,” he said. “The hardest thing for me was to come up with what I wanted in my yard.”

He said four seasons of color was important to him and unique plants that someone doesn’t see at every nursery.

“I wanted a variety of color,” he added. “I chose mondo grass, coral bells, phlox, lavender carex, bamboo nandina, rainbow red bud, ‘500 series’ daylilies, otto luyken cherry laurel, cone flowers, accorus, helleborus and hosta popcorn.”

He said he brought in 200 tons of topsoil, 75 tons of boulders, 1,500 square feet of pavers for the patio, walkways and driveway and handmade Stone Manor Lighting for landscape lighting and the Japanese Koi imported from Japan.

“In the spring of 2018, we will have over 1,200 tulips and daffodils,” Christopher Baumer said.

Ellie Laubner, of Allentown, also spoke with The Press about her garden during the garden tour.

She said she started building her garden, gazebo and decorative fences in 2002, adding the koi pond in 2003 and the arbor in 2004.

“I started with a moon shaped garden and birdbath outside the kitchen window,” Laubner said. “I thought whoever had to do the dishes needed something nice to look at.

“From there I just extended the garden along the fences and when I put the arbor up it closed it all in,” she stated.

She said her garden includes roses, penstemon, corydalis, hydrangea, amsonia, Russian sage, valerian and butterfly bushes.

“I eliminated anything that didn’t make it through winter,” she said. “I didn’t use anything that has a short bloom season.

“I didn’t choose things that go brown,” she added. “I chose things that are in my color scheme like pinks, blues, purples and a little bit of yellow.”

Laubner said she primarily purchases her plants, bushes and flowers from nurseries but has received some from family and friends.

“My grandson Paul (Laubner) began helping me three years ago when he was 5 years old collect bark, pine needles and cones for compositing,” she said. “He also helps me sift the compost and apply it to my garden.

“He likes gardening so much he started a vegetable garden with his mother Dawn at their home in Emmaus,” she said.