Botanicals

A yard is always a work in progress, at least our yard is. We’ve lived in the same house for 31 years now, so we’ve had some time to contemplate the lay of the land and see some things we planted on it come into their own. The Southern Star Magnolia that we planted when it was a scraggly 6 feet tall now towers over 35 feet and covers half of the front yard with its spreading branches. It regularly has over 100 blossoms each June. The Wisteria we planted that now covers the deck railings took twenty years to bloom and its tendrils are now over forty feet long. The Peonies are out of control beautiful and more plentiful every year. Add to that in no particular order, the Irises, the Climbing Rose, the Hydrangea, the profuse Lilies, the Forsythia patch, the Dogwood and Redbud trees, the hundreds of Daffodils and Crocuses, the various Hosta, the aromatic Hyacinths, the Azaleas, the mysterious and beautiful Ferns, the Milkweed, the Hibiscus, the Hellebores, the Bee Balm, the Clematis, the Astilbe, the Bear’s Britches, the humble Pachysandra, the brash Tulips, and the herbs and annuals inhabiting over 30 pots on the deck. We are rich in beauty and have something blooming nearly all year long—even in our coldest winters the Hellebores bloom when everything else is sleeping—and cut flowers in the house for months on end.