Lessons Learned

Grandma June taught me one of life’s great secrets when I was six years old. “Do you want some ice cream?” I replied, “It’s almost dinner time, daddy won’t let me have ice cream now.” She said, “Go sit on his lap, throw your arms around his neck, kiss his check and say, ‘I love you. You are the best daddy in the world. Let’s have some ice cream.’” To my utter amazement, I was soon sitting at a booth in Baskin Robins licking mint chocalte chip from a waffle cone.

I interviewed June Mays for an Alabama Gardener Magazine garden profile article and she told me one of the secrets of being a great gardener, “Visit as many gardens as you can. You’ll learn something from each one.” So last Saturday I toured four fabulous gardens on the Region 24 Iris and Daylily Association’s garden tour, and then I drove Doris home so I could tour her spectacular garden too. It was a great day. I met very nice people and saw thousands of irises. I highly recommend you come along next year. (Watch for the date on the calendar of events page in Alabama Gardener Magazine.) June was right, all gardens teach us. Here are just a few of the many lessons I learned:

When homemade breakfast casseroles are at stake, don’t trust your GPS to get you there.

This coral bells (Heuchera) is very happy in Marlin and Essie Hollingsworth's garden.

The 4th of July rose at Marlin and Essie Hollingsworth's garden.

I should make friends with the Nelsons. They have my absolute favorite iris, ‘Impersonator’. It has an unusual form, flatter than other irises and super cute.

Iris ‘Impersonator’ in Don and Pat Nelson's garden

There are no right or wrong garden styles. All that matters is you like it. Garden tours are a great help in figuring out what your style is. Do you like a more monochromatic color scheme, or a wider color pallet?

A pretty combination in Don and Pat Nelson’s garden that uses a very limited color pallet.

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Another pretty combination in Marion & Janice Carroll's garden that uses many more colors.

Next time someone offers me a baby Camellia instead of just saying, “No, thank you. I can’t think of where I’d put it.” I should add, “but could I please get a little piece of that pink salvia you got at Petals From the Past Nursery?” Now I have to make a road trip to Jemison and buy my own.

Marion and Janice Carroll's garden.

Pete and Donnie Douthit's garden

Persian shield has a short life, so there’s no sense trying to over-winter a plant you bought in spring. Instead, use some rooting hormone to start a new plant from a cutting and over-winter that inside.

Pete and Donnie Douthit's garden

I need to plant larkspur and love-in-a-mist this fall. I’ve bought seed before, but never got around to planting them. They were so pretty in Doris’s garden.

Doris Simmon's Garden

Doris Simmon's Garden