WesterFlora Invites Visitors To Slow Down and Enjoy Westerville’s Gardens

Where would you put your chair?

It’s a simple question, but one that became the theme of this year’s WesterFlora garden tour. In each of the 11 gardens, there was that one perfect spot where visitors could imagine settling in for an afternoon, taking in the colors, textures, and sounds that homeowners have spent years creating.

For some, it might have been beneath the broad shade of mature trees overlooking sweeping beds of hostas and perennials. Others may have chosen a quiet seat beside a woodland path disappearing into the trees, a wrought-iron bench surrounded by flowers at a Victorian home, or a shaded patio where bright pink mandevilla framed conversations under a crimson umbrella.

The 32nd annual WesterFlora tour once again transformed private backyards into destinations for hundreds of visitors from throughout Central Ohio.

The self-guided tour featured 11 homes stretching across Westerville, from neighborhoods beyond Little Turtle on the city’s southeast side to The Overlook in the northwest. Each garden reflected the personalities of its owners. Some showcased carefully manicured landscapes with formal beds and outdoor living spaces, while others embraced natural woodland settings where native plants blended into the surrounding environment.

Visitors found ideas for every type of property, whether a compact urban lot, a suburban backyard, or an expansive wooded hillside. Gardeners answered questions about plant selections, landscape design, maintenance and the challenges of creating beautiful outdoor spaces in Central Ohio’s changing climate.

The weather could not have been more accommodating. After a week of oppressive heat and heat advisories, temperatures dropped by about 10 degrees, making it comfortable to linger in each garden rather than simply moving from one stop to the next. The cooler conditions encouraged conversations between homeowners and visitors, many of whom came looking for inspiration they could take home to their own landscapes.

WesterFlora has become one of Westerville’s signature summer traditions since its beginnings in 1992. The tour was created as a local companion to AmeriFlora, the international horticultural exposition held that year in Columbus. While the world’s fair came and went, WesterFlora remained, growing into an annual celebration of gardening, community and the willingness of residents to share the private spaces they have lovingly cultivated.

More than three decades later, the tour continues to prove that great gardens are about more than flowers. They are places to gather with friends, enjoy a morning cup of coffee, watch birds and butterflies, or simply find a quiet moment away from the pace of everyday life.

And perhaps that’s the best measure of a successful garden.

As visitors wandered through Westerville on a nearly perfect summer day, each stop offered its own answer to the same question:

Where would you put your chair?

British Invasion Draws Season’s Largest Sunday Concert Crowd

The year’s largest crowd for the Sunday night concert series filled the Alum Creek Amphitheater to hear perennial favorite The British Invasion perform popular music from the 1960s and ’70s.

The tribute band carried the audience through songs made famous during an era when British groups reshaped popular music. Fans sang along to familiar hits by the Beatles, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, and other bands whose music has remained popular for generations.

Many in the crowd arrived wearing brightly colored tie-dye shirts, including several bearing the band’s name. As the concert continued, listeners left their chairs and moved closer to the stage, dancing on the brick plaza while the musicians played.

Most of the crowd had been much younger when the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Rolling Stones first performed the songs they were hearing. Their enthusiasm hadn’t been tempered by age. It was amplified by memory.

Couples danced together, friends kept time with the music, and fans cheered as they recognized songs from their younger years. Across the lawn, hundreds of people sat in folding chairs and on blankets, filling the amphitheater from the stage to the surrounding trees.

The British Invasion saved one of its most colorful moments for the end. The band finished in Sgt. Pepper-style costumes drawing cheers from a crowd that danced, swayed, and sang along to every song.

By the final notes, the evening had become more than a tribute concert. It was a shared return to music many in the audience had carried for decades.

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