Nearly two years since the passing of Richard Krott – Lotzer’s business and life partner – his memory remains, growing on with each of the trees he planted and the stories Lotzer tells of him.
The living tool shed – a grove of trees with axes, faucets and other tools growing in the branches – is one of the most noticeable memories of Krott’s impact in the garden. His absence is also noticeable as Lotzer assembles the gardens for the season.
“Richard would already have that done,” she said while discussing the final tasks to complete before opening the gardens to visitors. “There’s not enough of me to go around.”
Preparing the gardens for spring, Lotzer said, is too big a job for just one person. Getting the job done, she added, has been made possible with the help of volunteers and community members.
“I call it my garden, but it’s really a community garden,” she laughed.
Although a community exists within and around Tizer Gardens, Lotzer is eager to welcome new visitors to the grounds this season and share her little piece of heaven with them: “It’s always exciting to open the gates to new customers – and old.”
For the last two weekends, approximately 30 volunteers have descended on the gardens, armed with shovels, rakes and a whole lot of determination. Each of the volunteers set to work, cleaning the gardens and preparing them for the hordes of visitors that will make their way through the windy paths of the garden grounds this season.
Although the volunteers have made quite the impact raking up mountains of loose leaves and branches, they were not the first ones to visit Tizer Gardens this spring, according to Belva Lotzer.
Lotzer, the owner and year-round resident of Tizer Gardens, said bees, butterflies and a menagerie of birds were some of the first to return to grounds this spring. Evidence of an even larger guest is visible in each section of the gardens, Lotzer said, pointing to branches ripped off of trees by local moose.
While the nursery opened several weeks ago, the gardens will begin welcoming visitors on Saturday, May 13 – just in time for Mother’s Day.
This year’s visitors can expect to see several new plant varieties, including a vibrant, orange corkscrew willow, a collection of clematis (a.k.a “climbing vines”) and a potent batch of brinda bella roses.
Changes may also be in store for the garden’s annual fairy festival, due to former parking areas being converted into subdivisions. The annual High Teas (July 16 and Aug. 13), the Celebration of Herbs on July 29 and Fabulous Fall Event on Sept. 16 will still go according to plan, Lotzer said.
