Tiptoe through more than tulips at ACT tour

When Janie Krasner and her husband bought their north Richland home about 15 years ago, the yard wasn’t much to speak of.

“It had a couple big sycamore trees and maples, and some trash bark,” Krasner said. “It was bad.”

It’s a different story now.

The garden — full of flowers, full of color — is a source of pride not only for Janie and Tom, but also the neighborhood.

“Neighbors come by to look for what’s new, what new project we have going on,” Janie Krasner said. “(People) say it’s really changed the neighborhood.”

The public will get the chance to see the garden firsthand June 18.

It’s a stop on the Garden Arts Tour, the annual event coordinated by the Academy of Children’s Theatre.

Self-guided tours are available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the event, which features several private home gardens, plus the Washington State University Extension Master Gardener demonstration garden at Highland Grange Park in Kennewick.

The Master Gardener group also plans a free Summer Solstice event in the park that day from 3 to 7 p.m. It will feature workshops, demonstrations and entertainment, including ACT actors portraying characters from The Secret Garden.

A kick-off party for the Garden Arts Tour is at 5 p.m. June 17 in Badger Canyon.

Adele Connors, ACT’s director of development, said the tour event is “a nice way for the community to celebrate the arts sector.”

It brings together numerous arts group, and also highlights the arts — the art of gardening, as well as visual and performing disciplines. A variety of artists will be on hand at the different venues.

Along with Krasner’s garden, the other stops on the tour include a Benton Conservation District-designated heritage garden filled with native seeds, nectar, berries and more; an “inviting retreat” with a rose garden, an aspen grove and other unique features; an “oasis in the desert;” a serene garden designed for relaxation and family fun that complements a backyard retreat next door that’s “staged as a virtual landscape painting;” a “picture perfect” garden with whimsical art and more; plus the demonstration garden with more than two-dozen theme gardens spread over 2 1/2 acres.

Krasner works long days at an office job, but always makes time to work in her garden.

It brings her joy. It’s renewing.

It’s in her blood.

“I ran across a picture of my grandmother, from Germany, standing by her peonies,” she told the Herald.

A similar picture exists of her mother, at her Indiana home. Krasner’s sister also is a gardener.

“It’s interesting to see it so deep in the family,” Krasner said. “A gene must have been there a long time.”

Krasner’s garden wraps around her house, with roses, hydrangeas, tulips and much more.

Tom Krasner welded an arbor. “It’s a gateway to our yard. It’s really beautiful,” Janie said.

Sometimes, people walking by will remark on the garden within earshot of her, and she’ll invite them to take a tour.

“I’ve never had anyone say ‘no,’ ” she said.

She loves it, and she’s glad to share the space with even more people through the Garden Arts Tour.

“The tranquility and what it does for the neighborhood (are special). People will stop and smell the flowers because it’s so incredible at different times of the year,” she said. “For us, to take nothing and making something beautiful out of it — it’s pretty rewarding.”

Tickets are $20 per person for Garden Arts Tour, $30 per person for the kick-off garden party, or $50 for both. They’re available at McCurley Integrity Honda, Beaver Bark Gift & Garden Center, Heritage Landscaping and Nursery, Academy of Children’s Theatre and www.academyofchildrenstheatre.org.

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Tiptoe through more than tulips at ACT tour."