Joseph and Shirley Ortego, 109 Fifth Street between Franklin and Hilton avenues:

The Ortegos own a beautiful Alexander Turney Stewart home from the 1870s. The pretty gardens on their block are the perfect setting for a number of Victorian homes. They include 105, 107, 109 and 111 Fifth Street.

The Ortego home was originally owned by former state Sen. John Dunne, Joe’s former law partner with Nixon Peabody. Dunne’s wife, Denise, was a member of the Garden City Historical Society so she had spent time researching the history of the home and gardens. The Ortegos bought it from them in 1993.

The Ortegos wanted to restore the garden to its original, historical look.

“We didn’t use a landscape architect but relied heavily on the design ideas and creativity of Landscaping by Joe Lambiaso, who has done a majority of the work with some tinkering and puttering by us. We were able to preserve and incorporate much of the old with new in the gardens, the old being some originals and foliage 100 plus years old.  The butterfly bushes by the side porch are originals and [we are] proud to have saved and preserved them when we restored the porches. We originally tried to create a traditional Victorian garden but found mixing new in with the old … [created] a better effect, although not historically accurate, to restore our Victorian to its original splendor,” Joseph Ortego, Esq. said.

Original plantings include rhododendrons as well.

Rich Hanna and Dr. Dawn Torre, 44 First Street, near Cathedral Avenue:

Rich Hanna is the president of Westminster Nursery and Garden Center in West Hempstead. Dawn Torre is a gynecologist in town and she met Hanna at Westminster while shopping for flowers one day.

Originally Hanna and Torre studied everything at Old Westbury Gardens, which is an inspiration to all gardeners. In addition they used a landscape designer connected with Westminster named Patrick J. Duffe. He is a certified nursery professional.

The Hannas/Torres have a pretty front yard with a red and white color theme using white-flowered weeping crepe myrtle, red begonias and copper beech trees, complete with a “garden goddess” statuary.

As pretty as the front yard is, the backyard is even more special.

“Before and after is dramatic,” Torre said. “It’s hard to believe that in the backyard there was originally one lone blue spruce tree.”

Dramatic it is! The one-acre backyard is filled with a beautiful rose garden that is a formal, symmetrical English style appropriate for the architecture of the home. The color scheme is pink and white with 50 rose bushes, 150 boxwoods, a wisteria arbor, white fluffy hydrangea trees, a water feature of a 2.5 foot diameter globe with water bubbling gently over the surface, additional statuary and more.

Daughter Olivia’s play area has six topiary animals ala Disney World: two dinosaurs, two bears and two elephants at the entrance to greet little friends coming to play. She has a large swing set with a sitting area nearby.

For more information about Landscaping by Lambiaso in Franklin Square, call 516-488-6066. For more information about Westminster Nursery visit www.WestminsterNursery.com.