July 2026 Let’s Get Dirty on the 30’s Yard Tour Recap

Linda and Bob Hess Condo native gardens and woodland restoration tour.

On the evening of July 30^th, a small group of Wild Ones members toured the native gardens at Linda and Bob Hess’s condo. Linda guided us around the yard, starting with the front beds close to the porch. These narrow beds were full of colorful blooms – cardinal flower, purple coneflower, butterfly milkweed, rattlesnake master and more.

The beds also provided other visual interest with trellised vines, fruiting shrubs (black chokeberry) and a thick carpet of pussytoes.

Along the far side of the driveway was another long bed with taller plants – blazing star, alliums, grasses, more milkweed, pagoda dogwood, and another trellised vine. This bed continued along the side of the garage all the way to the backyard – wild bergamot, great blue lobelia, boneset and wrinkle leaf goldenrod, among others, providing big blocks of color along the way.

As we turned from these colorful, well-designed, native beds along the house, we were stunned to see the Hess’s huge “woodland restoration” project!  It’s an island of old trees and new garden beds, crisscrossed with walking paths, that spans more than the width of their condo and runs well out past their property line into private, undeveloped land.

Bob and Linda explained that this wooded area was originally filled with honeysuckle, poison ivy, and other invasive species. “We slowly transformed it into a lovely oasis of native and non-native (passalong) plants that changes every year.” Over 8 years, they removed invasives, added native plants (from Wild Ones plant sales), built walking paths, and added garden art and seating areas to create a livable space, a peaceful escape for all to enjoy!

Big thanks to Linda and Bob for sharing their gardens with us, and for supporting Wild Ones mission to promote native landscapes.