Troy Garden Club prepares for 50th Garden Walk

TROY — The Troy Garden Club will celebrate the work of local gardeners during its 50th annual Garden Walk, set for July 9.

The Garden Club — a nonprofit founded in 1971 — aims to inspire others with a passion for gardening to continue learning about horticulture, and to get more involved in their community. The Garden Walk started in 1975.

“The (Garden Walk) is the principal annual fundraiser for the Troy Garden Club, and it supports dozens of nonprofits in and around our community, plus a university student scholarship for horticultural studies,” explained Judi Milidrag, a representative of the Troy Garden Club, in an email.

The walk’s theme this year is “Garden Stories.” The event will feature five private gardens in the Troy area, plus a bonus garden.

The venues include the Urwiller Garden, the Smith Garden, the Vaughan Garden, the Pangle Garden and the St. Anastasia Rectory Garden. This year’s bonus garden is Bowers School Farm.

The Pangle Garden is maintained by owners Barbara and Vince Pangle, who have lived at their home for more than 30 years.

“When I was a kid, we just always had flowers around and things like that,” Barbara said. “And then when we bought (a home) here is probably when we both got into it.”

“In high school, I worked for a landscaper for probably three or four years,” said Vince. “My folks used to put in a vegetable garden every year. … I worked in a landscaping business for a couple years in Grand Rapids and then worked in a landscaping business in Florida for a year. So, I had some time planting and then doing that kind of stuff.”

The garden is decorated with a wide variety of repurposed furniture and objects, many of which came from either their house, were picked from garbage, or bought from garage sales, estate sales and thrift stores.

Some of the decorations include discarded door frames, vintage furniture pieces, a bike planter piece and an organ pipe.

“We pretty much tag team,” Barbara said. “I like the decorating part. (Vince) does some lifting and digging holes that I can’t do … but I could be out here all the time. It makes me very happy. Him, part-time very happy.”

The property also includes a waterfall feature for the pool, a hot tub, a pool house, a little library box, and a patio with outdoor kitchen island.

“We’ve been here like 35 years, probably,” Barbara said. “So, before that we were in a townhouse, (and) we didn’t really have anything at that point. It’s all been kind of, you know, years of doing stuff and adding on.”

Their garden was previously featured in the 2014 Garden Walk for Troy.

“I like doing it, I like going on it,” Barbara said. “So, it’s nice to be able to do it, and it’s fun to get it all spruced up and everything. My mom and I do it every year.”

While the garden will be ready for viewing during the 2025 Garden Walk, the couple has plans to develop it further later this year. This includes enhancing part of their patio area where the hot tub is located.

“We’re still having some water issues because of how our property is, but other than that, I think we’re just about there,” Vince said.

Father Steven Wertanen maintains the St. Anastasia Rectory Garden, which is part of his living space with Anastasia Roman Catholic Church. He was previously an art director and graphic designer.

“You know, when I got here 10 years ago, I have a fountain, so that was the first thing I put in over there and dug up some grass around it. And that became the beginning of me just continually (digging) up more grass, more grass, more grass in the area, and (planting) some different type of plants and flowers,” Wertanen said.

“I consider myself not a knowledgeable gardener,” he added. “Over 10 years, (I just started) doing what I think looks nice, (whether) it’s shade or full sun, perennials, annuals. I try to get a lot of plants that are for butterflies and … hummingbirds.”

His garden includes rock areas with floral arrangements and succulents, stone pathways and woven vines, and birdhouses along the fence, as well as a miniature village with figures of nuns and friars, and a dry garden with metal plants and fish.

Many of his decorations came from Amazon and eBay, among other places.

“I think a lot of times there’s a bit of whimsy in my creativity and gardening,” Wertanen said. “A lot of these things are not things that I plan at first. They just kind of progress as I go along.”

The garden is well-liked among community members. The space will sometimes be used for church events.

“When we have the concerts and movie nights, I get a lot of compliments of what’s here,” Wertanen said.

While he doesn’t have any immediate plans to add more, he said that he will probably consider additions later.

“I’m always thinking (of adding), but I’m running out of more places to dig up grass,” Wertanen said.

Each of the gardens will be open for touring from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and again from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., rain or shine. There will once again be a plein air artist there, who will be painting a scene at each garden.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $15 at Auburn Oaks Garden Center, Bordines (Rochester Hills), Piechnik’s Greenhouse & Garden Gate, Telly’s Greenhouse, Troy Historic Village and Uncle Luke’s.

Tickets are also available through the club’s website at troygardenclubmi.com/. Tickets the day of the event are $18 by cash or check, only at Troy Historic Village.

The Village will also be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with free admission on July 9. This will include the Midsummer Arts & Crafts Vendor Boutique and Plant Sale, as well as a free raffle for ticket holders.

Attendees earn free raffle tickets by visiting gardens with their purchased Garden Walk ticket, or by making a purchase from the plant sale or boutique at the Village.

The Village will also be running its own raffle the same day, with its own tickets available for purchase.

“Raffle tickets, completed with name and phone number, must be dropped in one of three raffle ticket fishbowls at the Village by 6 p.m. to qualify,” Milidrag said in an email.

For more information, visit troygardenclubmi.com.