Mad City Tour Gardens

Windswept Garden
Karen Watson-Newlin and Rob Newlin
7699 Almor Drive
Verona, WI 53593

Windswept Garden first became a concept the summer of 2003, when Karen and Rob divided and moved 450 plants from their home of 18 years in Verona, WI, to a “holding bed” at their new building site.  Since Karen is a middle school art teacher, design is very important to her.  Karen proceeded to design all the gardens while Rob provided the heavy lifting. Together they planted everything in this evolving garden.

Initially in fall 2003, after their custom-designed home was completed, a few plants were placed around the front of the house before the first frost.  
Rob next created a pond with a waterfall in the backyard. The side yards and the back yard gardens were created in the summer of 2004, with stepping-stones and paths through the distinct garden areas. A small orchard of apple, cherry and peach trees was planted near the back of the property, and raspberry bushes were added to the original “holding” bed. The holding area also became the new vegetable garden. A major construction project the summer of 2007 added a swimming pool with an outdoor kitchen area. The current garden is home to about 550 registered daylilies and 250 different perennials. Several theme garden areas are also represented.

A special showcase daylily garden, the Englerth Bed, was developed to showcase unregistered, new seedlings from the Region 2 hybridizers. The conference attendees will vote on the best seedling during the conference when they tour Windswept Garden.

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