Every two years, the gardening clubs in Henry County collaborate to hold a Garden Tour featuring gardens in town and the county. This year, five gardens are on the tour, which is Saturday, June 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
New this year, plein-air painters are coming from Summit Art in Lee’s Summit, and are setting up their easels in each garden. One artist is Teddy Jackson, a CHS graduate. Another is Sharon Wagner, president of Summit Art, a 1968 graduate of Clinton High School, and the aunt of Celia Harmon, a garden club member.
“Her passion is plein-air painting,” Celia said of Sharon.
Tickets are $10 for the tour, and can be purchased at any of the five stops. Three are in Clinton and one on the west edge of town. The other one is four miles outside of town, off Hwy 7.
Plein-air artists will paint in the gardens from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Then they will display their work for sale at the courtyard of the Henry County Museum, between the Adair Annex and the Anheuser-Busch Building at 211W. Franklin, from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Plein-air painting, or painting out-of-doors, instead of in the controlled environment in a studio, was popularized in Britain in the 19th century by John Constable, who was known for his rural landscapes. Plein-air painting was embraced by the Impressionists, Claude Monet’s giant canvases of water lilies in his Giverny garden perhaps the most well-known.
The challenges? Capturing a scene under changing light conditions, and being vulnerable to the elements.
A map of the gardens on the tour will be given out with tickets, which can be purchased at the five gardens. The closest one in town is Rocky and Darite Meads’ property at 710 Clinton, near the Clinton Middle School. The Meads’ yard overflows with tropical plants, borders of bright-colored lilies, willows and shade-loving hostas.
Jim and Jackie Cook’s garden, in the Van Sant neighborhood at 300 Gunsmoke, has a pond/swimming hole lined with rocks and filled with water lilies and goldfish. This should be a lovely garden to capture on canvas. Gunsmoke Drive, parallel to Van Sant, is reached by taking east Franklin to north Craig, a right turn off Craig onto Green to Gunsmoke.
Refreshments will be served at Greg and Carlene Lowe’s property, 304 N. Vansant Drive. The driveway leads across a lake to the property, which features brick patios and paths bordered with boxwoods, an arbor, raised gardens and a barn with chickens and horses.
The most rural property on the tour is off of Hwy. 7, at 263 NW 351 Road. Christine Breshears and William Wallace’s gardens feature native plants and perennials that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. The property borders fields of crops with a pond.
The property of Jim Cook’s brother is also on the tour. Ron and Helen Cook live on the west edge of Clinton bordering West Ohio (Hwy. 18), just past Clinton Christian Academy and across from the LDS Church. The property has fun features. Look for the fairy garden in a wrought iron stand next to the porch. Coral bells upon their slender stalks line the garden walks, and presumably ring when the fairies sing. Roses and clematis climb trellises, sweet peas and honeysuckle scent the air, magnolias and hanging baskets add romance to the Cooks’ property. A rock garden is salted with treasures. Start the tour there, and reverse the order listed here to avoid the crowd.
Plan to schedule a rest stop at home or at a break for lunch on the Square, and to end up at the museum courtyard in the afternoon to see the finished art works. The plein-air artists are donating 30 percent of the proceeds from art sales to the Clinton High School Fine Arts program in memory of Woodson Roddy. Celia’s Aunt Sharon had Roddy as an art teacher. He taught at CHS from 1962 to 1990, and died in 2018 at age 87.
Summit Art holds the Summit Art Festival the second weekend in October in downtown Lee’s Summit, Mo. The street fair features art, music, food, live art competitions and interactive art activities. Go to summitart.org for more information.
The 2025 Garden Tour in Henry County is a project of the Twilight Garden Club and Designing Gardeners. A fundraiser for community garden projects, the tour has been held for more than 20 years, according to Celia Harmon. Garden club members maintain the flower beds and container plants around the Henry County Museum, the historic Dorman House and in the museum courtyard, where the art sale will be.
The gardeners also award scholarships to local students who are pursuing degrees in plant sciences.
