It’s all part of bringing beauty into their lives. That’s the reason two of the homeowners on the upcoming Ironton in Bloom garden tour give for why they’re out in the back yard gardening away.

“I’m out there every chance I get,” said Georgia Triplett, whose array of flowers and vegetables at 1316 Shawnee Trail will be one of the stops Sunday, July 18.

That’s the date for Over the Back Yard Fence Yard Tour from 2 to 5 p.m. that will show off the gardens at seven Ironton residences.

Gardens on the tour will be those of Mr. and Mrs. David Brown at 1230 Navaho Trail; Mr. and Mrs. Doug Cade, 1204 Navaho Trail; Mr. and Mrs. Merril Triplett, 1316 Shawnee Trail; Mr. and Mrs. David Waller, 1235 Shawnee Trail; Mr. and Mrs. John Bowen, 1020 McGovney Ave.; Mr. and Mrs. Nick McMahon, 1610 Thomas St.; and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Castle, 1927 S. Ninth St.

“As soon as it is daylight, that is the time to go out,” Triplett said. “We have a real interesting garden back here. My flowers are beautiful and I have upside down tomatoes.”

There’s every annual imaginable along with lavender and purple butterfly bushes, pink knockout roses, day and Asiatic lilies and herb after herb. “I share my perennials,” Triplett said. “There are black-eyed Susans, balloon plants, garden phlox that grow three feet high. That has a beautiful scent.”

Nearby is the garden of Cindy Brown at 1230 Navajo Trail that she likes to call a work in progress.

“It has evolved over time,” she said. “I like to do it by trial and error. I try new plants and if they don’t work, I take them out and try something new.”

Her gardens are a combination of perennials and annuals with a basic color scheme of purples and pinks.

“Basically, I just use annuals for color, but a couple of years ago, I started using a lot of perennials,” Brown said. “I do a lot of containers and mix annuals together with perennials.”

And around the deck and the pool are masses of impatiens in pinks, oranges and red.

“I like looking out the windows. It is like another world in our backyards,” Brown said. “This tour will let people know what you can do if you have some ideas and can put them to use.”

Tickets are $10 for the tour and can be purchased from Ironton in Bloom members, at Weber’s Florists, M&M Realty, Katrina Keith at the City Center and Cindy Caskey at the CAO office. Maps for the self-guided tour and light refreshments will be available at the Lawrence County Historical Society Museum.