Following a delicious fish fry and pot luck dinner, Ray Schroeder gave us a tour of the beautiful gardens at Ward Meade Park. Everything looked pretty nice, though we had an unusual spring.

Ray said he thought the pondless waterfall really looked neat after it had finally filled in the last few years. TAWGS members built it as well as the winding streambeds which flow through the center of the garden. He said they have problems with people, especially kids, who stand on the rocks in the ponds which causes leaks.

Tulips lasted a long time this year, but Ray said they didn't have a very good turnout for the Tulip Time. Again, the cool and unpredictable spring probably contributed to the low attendance.

Pointing out a large bamboo grove along the north side of the park, Ray said that it makes a good sound barrier from the highway, but it is incredibly invasive. In your own yard, it needs to be in a contained area if possible.

Moving on to Anna's Pond, which is pretty well concealed by the huge grasses, etc. growing around the edges of the pond. It was cleaned out this spring so everything looked very good. He said the huge sycamore tree on the south side of the pond (about 120 years old) is very messy, but they hesitate to remove it because of its age.

It took 8 years for Tom and Bobbi Garcia to get to where they are now at Blue Acres. "I have a passion for marine aquatics," Tom said. "I needed a greenhouse for the coral and tropical fish I had at home."

They found a greenhouse at the old Herynks location so they purchased it in 2004. They opened the nursery for a short time but road construction on Wanamaker caused them to close.They realized they could not compete with the big box stores in nursery stock when they opened again recently, so they decided to go in a different direction. They now specialize in water gardens, fresh and saltwater fish, corals and aquaponics.