By Pam Teel
The Rocky Brook Garden Club of Hightstown held its annual tour on June 25th, celebrating the flower season with a “Wonderland in the Gardens Tour.” Seven gardens in both Hightstown and Cranbury were showcased on a self-guided tour with the theme in mind of “Alice in Wonderland.” As the garden club celebrated 150 years since Alice in Wonderland was first published in 1865, local Girl Scouts helped out by dressing up as characters from the book. Tickets from the garden tour were available at the Perennial Home store on Ward Street in Hightstown and through the Hightstown-East Windsor Historical Society on North Main Street.
For those avid gardeners, flower highlights included hydrangeas, asters, Phlox, delphinium, clematis, astibles, ferns, bleeding hearts and various variegated coleus. Refreshments were also served on the grounds of one of the homes.
Nichole L’vov’s home was one of the seven homes that were part of the Garden Tour. The yellow farmhouse colonial is unique because it sits on a four-acre parcel in Hightstown with lush landscaping and flowerbeds. The home was built circle 1920’s. It also has huge evergreens and a baby forest at the end of the driveway. The home was once occupied by the Davison family of Hightstown. William Davison and his wife Maria Herbert Davison were parents of ten children. Their son Joseph ran their General Store for many years. The store was located on Main Street. He expanded the dry goods business to include groceries and clothing and later purchased the controlling interests in the Hightstown Smyrna Rug Company in 1907. The Davison family also owned a dairy farm circa 1929.
Nichole has lived in her home since 2002. Aside from being an avid gardener, she runs a small business in her boutique studio in the back of her house where she teaches inner strength Pilates. Nichole is a PMA Certified Pilates instructor and writes a mind-body column for www.fitpro.com. For more information and to sign up for classes call: 609 598-4686 or email nichole@ispilates.com. Facebook- Inner Strength Pilates.
If you didn’t get to be a part of the Garden tour this year, mark your calendar for the end of June next year and keep abreast of upcoming events at www.hewhs.com.
Keep an eye out for another upcoming event on October 23rd and join the Hightstown Historical Society for a self guided tour titled “A Step back in Time” where seven local historic homes, noted for their charm and local significance, will be opened up to the public. All of the homes have been preserved or renovated. Guides will be available to answer questions.
The tour is being held as a fundraiser to help the Historical Society maintain the Ely House and update its library. The Ely house stands on land originally settled in 1721 by John and Mary Hight. It houses a museum and Reference Library in the Sara Hutchinson West Educational Center Freight Station located behind the Ely house. The Rocky Brook Garden Club will provide floral arrangements for all the homes. Advanced tickets can be obtained after Labor Day at the Perennial Home Store for $20.00 and at Weichert Realtors, route 130, East Windsor, the day of the tour. You can also purchase tickets at the Historical Society Office at 164 Main Street. For more information go to: www.hewhs.com or call Shirley Olsen at 609 448-8388.