View from the Window: Garden Club visits Joy Foy

By Guest Columnist Sherrye Lacour and Wanda Baldwin

May 10 found the Canton Garden Club members sporting their favorite hats taking a tour of the gardens of Joy Foy. Although she lives just on the outskirts of Canton, we felt we were really out in the countryside with all the beautiful land surrounding her home site. 

The turn of each corner revealed yet another delightful surprise. We started the tour at her newly finished “She Shed,” where Joy goes for inspiration and relaxation. Joy has lovingly decorated the space with treasures she had purchased from estate sales and consignment shops, as well as items of interest she had collected over the years and gifts from friends and family. 

From there, we moved to her outdoor entertainment space, complete with a screened dining area, where we had refreshments before continuing the tour. An old outbuilding had been spruced up with barn doors and louvered shutters to serve as her potting shed and was, of course, surrounded by beautifully curated plantings. 

Joy walked us from one gardenscape to another, sharing where and from whom she had received plants or seeds that seemed to have thrived under her green thumb. Trees, shrubs, groundcovers, flowers and vegetables provided lush colorful oases throughout the thick manicured grass lawn, and Joy was happy to offer cuttings and seedlings to anyone interested. 

Our meeting provided opportunities for the members to attend several events of interest to garden clubs throughout the state and to continue the sprucing up of the Canton Square and entrances to the city. The afternoon ended with a plant swap and sale and a little “happy” of Pink Ajuga in tiny clay pots from Joy. 

We will definitely plan a return visit for next year, as Joy will surely have expanded her handiwork into the surrounding fields!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sherrye Lacour is a native to Canton and graduated from Canton Academy in 1972. She moved to Madison in 1985, and then returned to Canton about five years ago. Lacour loves gardening, and her passion stems from Green Thumbs Garden Club in grammar school, as well as a mother who loves growing flowers and vegetables. Wanda Baldwin is a native Cantonian who recently retired from Vertex Aerospace as Executive Assistant to the President. Lacour and Baldwin are sisters.