Fragrant flowers, luscious greenery, chirping birdhouses, birdbaths, waterfalls, religious symbols and Chinese lawn ornaments awaited visitors July 11 attending Parkland Garden Club's 17th annual garden tour.

"Carnival of Flowers" featured 10 gardens, a creative demonstration and silent auction.

Sue and Ron Geist's gardens in South Whitehall Township, were started 24 years ago.

Entering the front gate, visitors are greeted by two majestic Dawn Redwoods.

Throughout the property, there are raised stone lined gardens brimming with perennials and many different shrubs.

There also are urns and planters filled with annuals, weeping pines, Pee Gee hydrangea, Japanese maples and Alaskan Cedars.

Fiona, the resident gargoyle, guards her shady home filled with hostas, Skip Laurels and Solomon's Seal.

Fred Buse's gardens, also in South Whitehall, feature a three-quarter acre property with a semi-wooded three-level, stone tiered garden, developed over 46 years by Buse, a Master Gardener.

The garden features a fish pond and waterfalls with croaking frogs, seven bird feeders and more than 10 birdhouses and vegetable gardens.

The Peace Garden at Jordan United Church of Christ, 1837 Church Road, South Whitehall, is an ongoing labor of love and renewal.

In 2005, a logging company harvested a grove of mature oak trees, leaving a large project for a group of dedicated volunteers to manage.

Work on the Peace Garden began in 2006.

Louie Smith and William Wehr were instrumental in starting the Peace Garden.

The garden is a circle to walk through, beginning with the Inspiration Trail and bridge near Dawn's Gazebo.

As visitors travel through the ferns at the gazebo and turn left, they approach the Rose Garden and Rock Garden and the Spring Hill Section.

Continuing up the trail are wildflowers on the way to the Vesper Vail area.

Next is the peace sculpture surrounded by wildflowers.

The Biblical Garden is entered through an arch and a memorial cross, made from an old barn beam, can be seen.

Continuing on the path, visitors encountered the well maintained border beds in front of the shed, with the Circle of Fire and memorial benches.

Turning left visitors then walked through the Circle of Fire Arch, continuing right down the Boulder Trail passed the Bonsai Garden and mini rock beds of the Rock of Ages before coming full circle to Dawn's Gazebo, near the main entrance of the garden.