By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Guests on the upcoming Porches, Pools and Patios Tour will have the opportunity to see the results from Lona Pribble’s love of gardening that expands five decades.
It’s like entering into another world when one steps into the back yard of the Lona Pribble home in Geneseo.
Guests on the upcoming Tour will have the opportunity to experience that transformation this Saturday when they visit the Pribble grounds and walk through the garden gate onto a brick patio that seems to encompass the entire yard with flower borders on both sides and a grape arbor to the front.
As guests stroll toward the grape arbor they see that the brick goes on, and leads them into the second phase of the patio, this one flanked by two ponds, a huge arborvitae, more planting areas and a seating area. Tucked away is a hidden garden secluded by the arborvitae tree.
Most people ask “Where does your yard end?” When Lona points beyond the green expanse of lawn to the surrounding fence most people are in awe. To the right is the Hosta Garden filled to the brim with Hosta this time of year. In April, when the Hosta are still enjoying their winter rest, this area is solid blue with bluebells. Various wild flowers and bulbs are mingled among them adding shades of yellow, pink, red and orange.
The Lightkeepers of First Methodist Church Porches, Pools & Patios Tour is Saturday, July 19, with the designated properties open to visitors form 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day includes a salad and charcuterie luncheon, with serving from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Commons at First Methodist Church, 302 North State Street in Geneseo.
Tickets, at $20 per person, are available in advance at porchespoolsandpatios.com with tickets, and maps of the five tour destinations, will be mailed to those purchasing tickets online. Tickets also are available during the week in the church office, and on the day of the Tour, July 19, tickets will be available to purchase at $25 each.
Guests will be able to visit the sites on the tour at their own pace by using the provided map. Ticketholders will be asked to present their tickets when they arrive for lunch at the church.
The conifer gardens, with a vast variety of plantings, spreads to the right as well. The many Conifers and plantings are the back drop to a playhouse, fairy gardens, ponds with fish and a seating area within a pavilion. The entire garden is accented with a large center island of giant Hosta’s anchored by gigantic walnut trees., and to the left is a garden filled with a variety of flowers, and a rock garden. To the rear of the yard is a fountain flanked by more conifers and beyond that you see an explosion of color from the Zinnias Pribble has planted.
The variety of Conifer gardens surround a large pavilion that includes a fire pit.
Pribble has created a botanical dream behind her house, located across from the Geneseo Swimming Pool. The pathway leading to the back yard was created with 8,000 bricks put in place by her late husband, Ray Pribble.
Recently, Pribble was hostess to the American Conifer Society which includes members from across the United States.
Pribble said the 165 Society members lodged at Bally’s in Rock Island and for three days toured gardens from Clinton, Iowa, to Monmouth, including the Pribble gardens.
"I enjoy sharing my gardens," Pribble said. "Because I do share it with others, I try to make it as attractive as possible for all seasons.
Pribble admits she finds peace in her garden and has posted a sign which reads, “The best place to seek God is in the garden.” Another sign states, “How lovely is the silence of growing things.”
The Pribble gardens have been a "50-year process," and gardening is something Pribble admits she has always enjoyed. "We have had a cutting garden and a vegetable garden in the rear of the yard since we moved here more than 50 years ago," she said. "I have always had flowers here and there around the house."
Those original gardens have been expanding for the last 50 years to where they now are the spacious back yard, about ¾ of an acre, Pribble said.
"Our garden had no 'master plan,' it simply evolved," she said. "I take after my mother in that I enjoy working in the garden."
Whenever Pribble thinks the gardens are “finished," she always seems to come up with one more idea.
“A garden is never finished,” she said.
