Peering over neck-high prairie grass, Ruth and Bob Leh thought the rural lot was perfect for their solar home.

Twenty years later, they stand on the deck and take in more than an acre of daisy-laden gardens, meandering paths, sometimes a garter snake darting among the daylilies.

And usually there are boys, plenty of boys, scaling the maple and birch trees, leaving behind sweaty T-shirts and baseballs.

But the retired first-grade teacher told the backyard boys that the freshly mulched gardens are off limits until after the Tri-Valley Fine Arts Garden Walk June 2, which will include her kid-friendly garden, along with six others.

"They're dying to get back in here," she said, carrying a pair of shears in one hand and wiping the dampness from her forehead with the other. "They said they'd be back June 3."

But before they are, garden walkers will see what she's been working on all day long, nearly every day since turning the calendar to March. The New Jersey transplant had to learn about native Illinois plants. She once nurtured ragweed.

A chain of spireas is shaped into a serpent with red eyelashes. In the gazebo there's a view of a shade garden with freshly mulched lime green ferns and columbines started from a neighbor's seeds last fall.

The 75-year-old's Mallingham garden in rural Bloomington has few rules. Sharp yuccas poke out of the desert garden, which also has a river of irises, clumps of daisies and velvety lamb's ears.

"Kids love those. They put them in their pocket," she said, stooping to rub a fuzzy ear.

Seven days a week, she's out there, even during a light rain, pulling, planting and pruning. She gets help from her boys, as she calls them, who are really young men from Bloomington's Advantage Lawn Maintenance. They mow, mulch, haul river rock and build arched trellises.

She rarely uses chemicals but makes an exception for a bed that's become a rabbit's salad bar. Spraying her African daisies with a repellant hasn't deterred them.

"It's like dressing to them," she said.

In another garden, razor-sharp ornamental grasses shoot up, along with delicate mint and Russian sage. She pulled a sage leaf and pressed it between her fingers, releasing the sweet smell.

"Yum," she said. "Reminds me of ham, or maybe pork chops."

June garden walks

All of the senses will get a workout during June's area garden walks.

This is the 11th year for the Glorious Garden Festival, which starts at Bloomington's David Davis Mansion. In 10 years, about 10,000 visitors have toured more than 100 private gardens, bringing in nearly $200,000 for the David Davis Mansion Foundation and Chestnut Health Systems.

"Secrets in the garden" is this year's theme, with self-guided tours of 11 private gardens and horticulture experts available to answer questions.

One garden features more than 150 varieties of ferns and another had humble beginnings when its new owners inherited a bleak landscape of black plastic and river rock, along with chain-link fence and a weed-covered hill dotted with concrete block steps. Now it's splashed with the color of 29 types of daylilies, 37 varieties of hostas and a moon garden with plants that show off their blossoms and release a delicate fragrance at night.

Visitors also can take master gardener-led tours of "Sarah's Garden," an heirloom garden with original 130-year-old rose bushes and peonies planted when Sarah Davis lived at the mansion.

The event includes a garden party on the mansion lawn with free refreshments and women in Victorian dress playing croquet.

Garden walks

• Artistry in Gardens Tri-Valley Fine Arts Garden Walk - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 2; tour of seven gardens and a daylily farm and nursery. Tickets are $9 for adults in advance ($10 day of event), $5 for children 12 and under; free for children 1 and under. Proceeds benefit Tri-Valley schools fine arts programs. Visit www.tri-valley.k12.il.us/ or contact Suzann Erlenbush at (309) 662-5617.

• Glorious Garden Festival - 1 to 8 p.m. June 15 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 16; 11th annual tour includes 11 private gardens plus Sarah's Garden at the David Davis Mansion, 1000 E. Monroe St. Garden party with complimentary tea, hors d'oeuvres and desserts served on the mansion lawn. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 the weekend of the event and $7 for children ages 1 to 17. Benefits David Davis Mansion Foundation and Chestnut Health Systems. Call (309) 828-1084 or visit www.davismansion.org or gloriousgardens.tripod.com.

• Cedar Crest Historic District Home and Garden Walk - noon to 5 p.m. June 24; begins at Broadview Mansion, also known as Immanuel Bible Foundation, 1301 S. Fell Ave., Normal; includes homes and gardens along with local historians and Cedar Crest residents as tour guides. Organized by United Methodist Women, First United Methodist Church, Normal. Tickets are $7. Proceeds go to United Methodist Women mission projects. Contact Linda Sorrells at (309) 454-3432.

• Parade of Ponds - 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 14; tours of about 10 ponds. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of event. Contact Jackie Tridle at (309) 664-1730.