The Des Fleurs Garden Club's annual "Oxford in Bloom" event will bring residents through five of the best private gardens in town.
The Des Fleurs Garden Club, a nonprofit organization in charge of beautifying Oxford, organizes garden tours every year where they pick five gardens in the community to host walkthroughs. This year's "Oxford in Bloom" is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 29.
To go on the tour, residents will need to purchase a $15 brochure that describes the five private gardens. These can be purchased at Kroger, Shademakers, online at desfleurs.org or on the day of the tour for $20. All of the proceeds go toward beautifying Oxford projects.
Joan Frybarger, an Oxford resident and garden club member, started gardening 20 years ago out of necessity. She needed a release from her stressful job at a food processing plant in Springdale and turned to flowers.
Now, after 18 years of retirement, she has about a 50-foot garden surrounding her house.
"I just enjoy watching it grow," Frybarger said. "Kind of like a family or children."
Des Fleurs originated in 1959 by a group of women who wanted to make Oxford beautiful "while sharing their gardening experiences," according to the organization's website. The annual garden tour wouldn't start until the '90s, though.
Brenda Frey, co-chair of the Des Fleurs Garden Tour, said a group of ladies visited a nearby city and noticed iron hanging baskets in the '90s. Inspired by this, they thought Oxford could use similar beautification.
The ladies needed help with funding, though, so they held a fundraiser where people could take tours of private gardens. The initiative bloomed into the annual garden tours hosted by the club today.
Now, the City of Oxford maintains the flowers while the garden club buys the materials and assembles the baskets. It's also in charge of other projects around the city including maintaining gardens at the Oxford Community Arts Center and Inloes Park.
"[The collaboration] is a wonderful thing," Frey said. "A win-win for both of us."
The committee attempts to choose new gardens every year with diversity and location in mind.
"Each garden is different from one another," Frey said. "So there's a good takeaway from each of the gardens that you can incorporate a little something into your [own]."
Joan Frybarger's expansive garden features hydrangea annabelles, roses, daffodils and more. Photos by Taylor Stumbaugh
In addition to the tour committee, Frey said there's also an eight person beautification committee charged with scoping out the different gardens and landscapes in the area that are "amazing to the eye." The committee then has the power to award beautification certificates, giving out more than 100 each year.
The tour on Saturday also offers a vendor marketplace with gardening-related items for sale at one of the five stops.
"Not only do you get to see five amazing gardens," Frey said, "you'll also get to shop and take a little bit of gardening home with you."
