Allie Rose

 

So I name some of my flowers in the garden...this one is named after my Goddaughter, Allie Rose. To me she is just like this pink tea rose - very gentle and quite lovely.

Nana's Day Lillies

I have hundreds of bright orange day lillies - straight from my grandparent's yard, 800 miles away. 26 years ago my mother shipped them to me as tiny plants, when we first bought our house. She packed the baby bulbs in zip-lock bags, and enclosed a wet sponge to keep them alive as they traveled from Long Island to Louisville. Each spring, as they push up through the ground, I am reminded of many happy memories from my grandparent's home. I lived there when I was 2 years old, while my father went to Japan in the Air Force. There were always day lillies in that yard. We used to sit together on a glider swing out in the back yard. It was wooden, painted white. And Nana made homemade lemonade.

We have split up the day lillies, and shared them with friends and family. Now my daughter has her own home, and her yard is bursting with day lillies from her great-grandparent's home. They are a piece of the family tree that will always be with us. They are a treasure from years ago, when the blooms would wave in the breeze while we all sat in the yard. If only they could tell the stories from those days.

Mom's project -

When I was in high school, my bedroom was on the second floor of our beautiful home in Connecticut. My mother planted morning glories below my window. Sure enough - I had the most beautiful vines of bright blue blossoms crawling all the way up to my bedroom window. It was truly amazing. This was after she created an entire rock garden on a stubborn slope next to the driveway. A plain parcel of land turned into a lush display of flowers and shrubs within the first year of living in our new home....

Happy Father's Day...

I have to say, it was my grandfather who got me started with gardening. When I was a newlywed, I lived about 4 miles away from Pop-pop. He asked me if I'd like to help him with the garden, and I said yes. He taught me how to plant a huge vegetable garden... we used twine to make perfectly straight rows, we labeled each row with a sign and a magic marker, and he explained why some vegetables do not care to be planted next to one another. Everything was planted from seed. I couldn't understand why the cucumber seeds had to be spaced so far apart. He stood over me as I pushed each seed down into the soil. Now I know why he asked me to join him... his back couldn't take it anymore, and I was young and strong. Or so I thought...

As the summer went on, he would call me, and insist that I get down there to water the garden. I would drop what I was doing, and get to his house as fast as I could. He would be standing at the window, waiting for his helper.

If only I had taken pictures. We had a great garden that year. He talked about his life, and I listened.

Last season's blooms.

One of my favorite summers in the garden. Thank you to Eddie Slate (video). Many changes since then -

Garden Room

This used to be a carport. It's now my favorite place for coffee in the morning, or drinks in the evenings. We've had a few dinner parties here, too. The roll-up blinds have been a nice addition after losing three big trees over the past few years. Now that our shade is gone, the blinds have helped a great deal.