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Description:
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Couple's gardens blooming after 20 years of hard work
By Sara Anne Corrigan
Monday, May 5, 2008
Last year, Steve and Beverly Knight attained an achievement that was 20 years in the making.
Their property — about 50 acres they've named The Azalea Path that spans the Gibson and Pike county line — was designated by Indiana as an arboretum and botanical garden and awarded nonprofit status.
Sara Anne Corrigan / Courier & Press Steve and Beverly Knight's Azalea Path.
AT A GLANCE
The Azalea Path Arboretum and Botanical Garden is north of Princeton Ind., off Indiana 65, at 1502 North County Road 825 West.
The property is open to the public "from sunup to sundown, from April through October," says Beverly Knight, who added, "Someone is always at home."
But calling in advance for detailed directions, and especially if you are bringing a large group, is advised. The phone number is 354-3039.
Tours are free, but donations are accepted.
It also is classified as a forest preserve, says Beverly Knight.
As the name suggests, there are a lot of azaleas. The couple have long since lost count of how many, although they planted every one of them and continue to add more each spring.
"I fell in love with azaleas many years ago, largely because of the work of Dr. John Schroeder," explained Knight, an Evansville native and retired UPS driver.
Schroeder, who is now deceased, was an Evansville obstetrician who lived in the McCutchanville area. He began hybridizing azaleas more than 50 years ago, said Jeanne Brown, a member of the local Azalea Society and an Azalea Path devotee.
Schroeder is credited with developing particularly colorful and cold-hardy azaleas that flourish in the Tri-State, which is close to the northern climate boundary for azaleas, she said.
"He developed 38 varieties, and I am proud to say I have 37 of them on this property," Knight said.
The couple do virtually all of the work themselves, "which is why you will never see this place free of weeds," she quipped.
Spring, of course, is the most colorful time of year at the Azalea Path. In addition to azaleas, there are wisteria vines, lilacs, dogwoods, redbuds, rhododendrons and a variety of unusual trees and shrubs.
"There is something of interest to see here from April through October," Knight said of the season when the property is open to the public.
The Knights conduct guided tours, she said, but they also allow individuals and groups to wander the property on their own.
"Last year, without our having done any advertising at all, we had more than 4,000 visitors," she said.
This summer likely will be much busier. The Pike County Chamber of Commerce and the Gibson County Visitors and Tourism Bureau both are promoting the site.
The Azalea Path "has given Gibson County a marketable group tour attraction ... it's a priority for us now ... a hidden treasure that we are promoting this coming year as one of three group tour attractions in the county," said Eric Heindenreich, executive director of the Gibson County Visitors and Tourism Bureau.
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