The restored homes and sun-dapppled gardens on next weekend's Historic Home and Garden Tour in Lebanon are masterpieces for those with a weakness for a soft-petaled bloom or a turn of an arch.

Artist Lorri Davis holds the watercolor she did of the Helen English house at 475 Glosser St. in Lebanon. (Sara Stegemoller photo) | ZOOM |

        But this year the 11homes and five gardens literally have become works of art, captured on canvas by watercolorist Lorri Davis of Mason.

        “Because this is the town's bicentennial, I thought we needed a little something special,” says Sara Stegemoller, owner of Lebanon's Blue Heron Studio who grew up in the small, picturesque town whose downtown sidewalks are lined with shops and galleries.

        She pitched the idea of having an artist paint the tour's homes and gardens to the tour sponsor, the Lebanon Council of Garden Clubs.

        Ms. Davis, 44, was a natural choice.

        “She spends a lot of time in Lebanon painting homes and gardens, often knocking on doors to ask, and she ends up with wonderful soft watercolors, not necessarily full-house portraits but often a large section of the house,” Ms. Stegemoller says.

        “I would describe them as light and impressionistic with a lot of color, and I paint more on the loose side than being architecturally correct,” says Ms. Davis, who worked in retail and for Blue Cross before buckling down to her brushes last year.

        “I was only able to do six houses because of the weather,” she says. “I prefer to work on-site and you just can't paint watercolors in the rain.”

IF YOU GO

What: Self-guided Historic Home and Garden Tour of Lebanon    When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. next Saturday and June 23     Tickets: Day of tour tickets and maps: $5 gardens only; $15 homes only; $20 both, at Lebanon Station, 198 S. Broadway. Advance tickets at Gerald Miller Co., 3 S. Broadway, or Good Housekeeping Shop, 9 N. Broadway, both in Lebanon.    Information: (513) 932-3430.

        Chased inside, she resorted to working from photographs and she talked with gardeners about the types of blooms they nursed along in spring's sparse sun.

        Her paintings, about 16-by-20-inches, will be displayed at the homes. Other works by the artist will be at the Blue Heron Studio, 28 Cincinnati Ave., along with plants and nursery stock from Marvin's Organic Gardens in Lebanon.

        Hot spots on the tour will include a red-white-and-blue kitchen featured in the July issue of Country Sampler magazine, a red-white-and-blue garden, a rock cabin from 1803, homes featured on HGTV's If Walls Could Talk,shade gardens, sun gardens, English cottage gardens and home styles from Victorian to Dutch Colonial, Greek Revival to Federal.
       

More garden tours

        Garden tours scheduled next weekend include:

        Licking-Riverside Tour: Stroll through more than 20 Southern-style gardens in this historic Covington neighborhood. Also, consult with master gardeners, visit with vendors, see decorative table settings, get tips from lecturers, listen to live music and vote for your favorite garden, noon-5 p.m. next Saturday and June 23. Tickets $10 (under 12 free) at the George Rogers Clark Park at Garrard Street and Riverside Drive. Information: (859) 581-0165.

        English Garden Tour: Tour the Bramlage and Kurtz gardens of Indian Hill, 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. next Saturday. Tickets, $10, and map at Smith & Hawken, Rookwood Commons, Norwood. Information: 731-3133.

        Horticultural Society tour: Eight gardens from West Chester to Mount Washington will be featured on the first leg of the Summer Garden Tour of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society 10 a.m.-4 p.m. June 23. (The second leg of the tour will be July 13.) The tour will be free for Association of Cincinnati Horticultural Society members. For others, advance tickets, $8, at www.cincyflowershow.com. Tour day tickets, $10, at each garden: 8008 Pepper Pike, West Chester; 17 Hayden Drive, Green Hills; 3309 Morrison Ave., Clifton; 1401 Dyer Ave., Mount Washington; 7325 State Road, Anderson Township; 5765 Kensington Ridge, Anderson Township; 2334 St. James Ave., Walnut Hills, and 1391 Dyer Ave., Mount Washington.

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