TOPEKA, Kan. – Sherry Clayton, daughter of Jerold Binkley, remembers the moment her dad planted tulips in their home garden.
“My dad put in roses, petunias and zinnias, and one year they went on a trip with their good friends to Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria, Canada to Butchart Gardens,” Clayton said. “The (home) was never the same after that. It seemed like there was more flower beds than grass.”
Binkley, who died in 2018, was known for planting tulips that drew the community out to his home. Eventually, the annual tulip event at the Binkley home transformed into Tulip Time.
Because of his dedication to the beautification of Topeka and founding one of the city’s most popular events, Binkley now has a flower bed at Ted Ensley Gardens that is dedicated to him.
A second dedication for Binkley took place Saturday evening at Ward-Meade Botanical Garden at Old Prairie Town.
Friends and family gathered Saturday at Lake Shawnee for the memorial dedication where a stone that reads “Binkley Memorial” was unveiled. The flower bed and stone sit near the water’s edge and features red Apeldoorn tulips — Binkley’s favorite according to Traci Podlena, Shawnee County Parks and Rec horticulturist.
Karl Ramberg, who carved the memorial stone, said he was honored to take part in the project.
“It was just a real treat to know the man,” Ramberg said. “He was somebody that for sure had a sense of helping and caring for people.”
According to Bob Saathoff, a friend of Binkley’s, a main goal of Binkley’s was to make Topeka a more beautiful place.
That goal was made possible thanks to donations Binkley received when people visited his home to look at the tulips. Those proceeds led to the beautification of Lake Shawnee, Ward-Meade Botanical Garden, Gage Park and Washburn University.
Saathoff described Binkley as having a “Get ‘er done” personality.
“(Larry the Cable Guy) got famous for the saying ‘Get er done,'” Saathoff said. “I think Larry got that saying from Jerold because he was a ‘get er done’ kind of guy. When he started a project, he would finish the project and it would be done very soon. He didn’t mess around.”
Saathoff worked with Binkley on many beautification projects at Lake Shawnee and spent time helping him haul rocks from the Flint Hills.
Many of the additions at Lake Shawnee are thanks to Binkley, Saathoff said.
“He was very visionary in his projects that he planned out here,” Saathoff said. “He wanted to have a covered bridge — that was one of his main things for many years. He wanted a raised stone rock garden. He wanted to coat all of the drainages with stone. With the exception of some of the stone walls around the garden, I would say every stone you see here came here in his pickup.”
