Tickets on sale up to day of June 11 event

Ironton In Bloom is inviting the community to see some of the most unique backyards and gardens the city has to offer during its annual “Over the Backyard Fence Yard Tour,” set for Sunday, June 11.

“It’s an annual event and one of our biggest fundraisers,” Jan Wolfe, chairman of Ironton In Bloom, said. “We didn’t have it last year when America In Bloom came down to Ironton, but this is about the eighth yard tour we’ve had.”

One of the yards on the tour is that of Brad and Autumn McFann, whose house was built in 1860.

The McFann’s yard contains a pool, installed by DePriest Pools, surrounded by numerous flowers and plants in a landscape designed by Hurley’s Landscape and Design, of Wheelersburg. One feature of McFann’s yard is that the landscape uses rocks instead of mulch.

The backyard also features sitting area next to a structure containing a “man cave,” complete with Ohio University and University of Notre Dame gear, which will also be open for viewing during the tour.

Another stop on the tour is the yard of Andy and M’lissa Whaley, whose yard also has a pool installed by DePriest Pools, a deck, sitting area and a variety of flowers and plants.

“We have all kinds of different plants and flowers,” M’lissa Whaley said. “Hostas, geraniums, ivy, knock-out roses, mandevillas, buttercups.”

She added that Andy took care of all the planting in the yard, and that some of their flowers were bought from Ironton In Bloom.

“The pool was the first thing we put in in the backyard, and then we just started adding around it,” she said. “We’ve lived here for 13 years, and have had the pool in for about five or six years.”

She said that her family spends a lot of time in the backyard hanging out and hosting parties, family functions or friends of their four children.

The yard and garden of Casey and Kimmi Compston are another stop on the tour. The Compton’s said they take pride in using everything that they grow and being as eco-friendly as possible.

“We have a salsa pot, which is growing cilantro, peppers, onions and tomatoes. We grow a lot of herbs, garlic, lavender and we have grapes,” Casey Compston said. “And we have a wildflower garden for the honeybees. We have purposes for pretty much everything that we’re planting.”

Kimmi also added that they have a homemade compost bin, in which they use for planting, as to try not to waste anything.

Besides the McFann’s, Whaley’s and Compston’s, there are seven other stops on the tour, including the Lawrence County Historical Museum, where tickets can be purchased and tour maps and refreshments provided, and the yards of John and Charlotte Slagel, Virginia Wachtman, Greg and Kelli Klaiber, Georgia Triplett, the Christ Episcopal Church pocket park and Weber’s Florist and Gifts.

Tickets for the tour are $12 and can be purchased at the Lawrence County Museum up through the day of the event, or by calling Wolfe at 740-550-9495. The addresses of each stop are provided on the tickets.