Garden club members show off home flowers, landscapes
by Alex Vukoder
The Bath Gamma Garden Club celebrated its annual meeting with tours of three local gardens. Members and guests were undeterred by the steady rain and started the tour with a visit to the impressive daylily garden of Nancy Secrist.
Recently certified as a display garden by the American Daylily Society, Secrist’s garden boasts more than 370 cultivars, with only three available commercially. She acquires these varieties from a vast network of daylily gardeners across the country. Secrist has hybridized and registered two varieties, naming them after her brother and father: “Steven Jon” and “Daniel and the Lion’s Den.”
Secrist briefly described the process, which requires using tweezers to take pollen from one daylily and dab it onto the pistil of another. Then, she harvests the seeds and waits to see what blooms.
“I enjoy painting with daylilies. And yes, each flower really only lasts one day. The Greek words for the flower mean ‘beauty’ and ‘day,’” explained Secrist.
When not working in her own garden, she volunteers as a master gardener for Haven of Rest.
The next stop on the tour was the magical gardens of longtime member Maryann Slattery, a labor of love she has been cultivating for more than two decades. Her gardens feature native plants, winding pathways, serene places to sit and reflect, as well as enchanting water features, sculptures and stained glass.
The tour ended at member Kathleen Flessner’s garden and architectural landscape wonder in Firestone Trace. Her garden started 17 years ago and was originally on the Akron Home Builders Association’s “Parade of Homes.” Since then, Flessner has designed intricate stonework and water features in the garden, paying close attention to structure and drainage.
“You don’t have to be a master gardener to join the garden club; just having a love of gardens is enough,” said Heather Pasket, garden club president. “We learn a lot from each other, but it is the friendships we form and the therapeutic nature of gardening that connect us as we help to beautify our community.”
To learn more about membership, events and donations/contributions, contact Pam Reitz at 330-858-2519. ∞

Bath Gamma Garden Club members gather for their meeting after the garden tour in July. Photos by Alex Vukoder.

Daylillies were among the flowers seen on the tour.
Photo (main/above): A tour attendee takes a photo of Nancy Secrist’s daylily garden. Photo by Alex Vukoder.