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Bounty of blossoms

Alecia Warren | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 4 months AGO
by Alecia Warren
| July 5, 2011 9:00 PM

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<p>Among dozens of flower and plant species, birdhouses are scattered throughout Irma and Don Koch's garden.</p>

COEUR d'ALENE - Don and Irma Koch had a disaster on their hands two weeks ago.

"There was a pine tree that size right there," Irma said, gesticulating to a flower bed by her Coeur d'Alene porch, where there was now noticeably no such tree.

It had died, they discovered, while the couple was on a trip to California.

The Koches were on it.

The dead tree was ripped out and promptly replaced with a slender, tiny-leafed crabapple tree, now poised perfectly in the center of the bed.

"It's really opened this place up. We had so much shade," Irma observed. "It was a blessing in disguise."

This was not an unusual series of events for the Koches, who keep more than a vigilant eye on the bounty of blossoms, trees, bushes and other leafy things classing up their backyard.

The retired couple devotes four to six hours a day tending to their garden, she said, which will be featured in the Coeur d'Alene Garden Club's 14th annual Garden Tour on July 10.

"It's our joy," Irma said. "It's our life."

It shows.

The roughly 60-square-foot back lawn is rimmed with rich dark soil, hosting rhododendrons, foxgloves, irises, petunias and other flora neatly arranged in a row, like kids lined up for class.

A small fountain gushes hello in the corner, and blossoming plants are potted and planted everywhere, so pinks and oranges, blues and purples, fuchsias and reds are always in the periphery.

These kinds of touches come naturally to Irma, a retired schoolteacher and artist, as well as Don, an avid photographer.

"We like color, let's put it that way," Irma said. "He likes it in photography, I like it in painting. We don't know when to stop."

None of the garden existed when they moved to Coeur d'Alene from Riverside, Calif., four years ago, Irma said.

They've stopped counting how much they invested in it, she added.

"We're retired. If we have a little bit of money to spend, it's going into our yard this year," she said.

Don admitted that it can be exhausting, especially since the 78-year-old and his wife do all the hard labor themselves.

But it's worth the results, he said.

"It's rewarding. You put all the effort into it, and then something will pop up and shine," he said, holding a dirty glove and shovel as he took a break from tending petunias.

Also, plants are gentle companions.

"The really neat thing about plants is they don't talk back," Don said with a chuckle. "Having worked in law enforcement for 38 years, I've had all the back talk I need."

The garden was an obvious choice to feature among the six properties chosen for the garden tour, said event organizer Bonnie Warwick.

"I plan with a kind of spectrum in mind to offer something for everyone - big gardens, little gardens, charming, serene," she said. "This hits the charming button, big time."

Warwick expects an impressive turnout for this year's tour, she added, which raises funds for a variety of local charities.

Since the economy has restricted most folks' recreation choices, she pointed out, more are gardening.

What better place to learn, she said, than by touring successful gardens?

"I'm feeling the garden tour will be of interest for those people," she said.

Funds raised from last year's Garden Tour allowed the club to donate $13,000 to charities, she added.

This year's self-guided garden tour, "A Stroll in the Garden," will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the 10th, with home gardens featured across Kootenai County.

Tickets cost $15 in advance, and $17 the day of the event.

Tickets can be purchased at Ace Hardware, Art and Home Center, Vanhoff's Garden Center and Mix-it-Up in Coeur d'Alene.

They can also be bought at Huckleberry Nursery in Hayden, Northland and Aspen nurseries in Post Falls, Westwood Gardens in Rathdrum and Stanek's Nursery in Spokane.

For more information, call: 664-0987.

Irma hopes visitors enjoy the Koches' garden half as much as they do, she said.

"We're going to garden until we drop," she promised.

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