Gardener of the Month

My choice for March's Gardener of the Month is Charles Gardner, and his wife Helene, though she is not a gardener. How can that be you say? Let me explain.

Okay, really, Charles is the Gardener of the Month due to his passion and enthusiasm for gardening, Helene has to be in here because of what she does with his flowers.

I have known Helene since last summer when we were introduced to each other through our respective garden clubs. I have visited Helene quite a few times discussing garden club business. Helene is a flower judge and quite a flower designer. She does not grow any of the flowers she arranges which is a little odd for an award winning flower designer (in my view). But! Helene doesn't have to grow her own flowers because she has a personal gardener. Not just any gardener either-her husband Charles is her gardener!

When I last visited Helene with the intent of discussing garden club business, Charles came into the kitchen to talk to me. I had briefly met Charles on my prior visits, but we never really talked. It seems he has read this blog and realized I REALLY like to garden (and to talk about it). Charles is quite the gardener and very passionate about it. He is so passionate he signed up the the mini master gardener classes that began this week. He LOVES to talk about gardening. After about 45 minutes of talking, while Helene patiently waited out our conversation (maybe tapping her foot a bit), I realized he was a really good gardener who not only knows his stuff, but LOVES gardening. I asked him if he found any errors on my blog. He said no, and I shyly told him I have made at least one. He didn't know what it was so I am not telling either! For all you experienced gardeners out there, it has something to do with Dirr and crepes.

Charles has personally planted 42 trees on their property in Savannah Lakes, handbuilt stone walls around some spectacular perennial beds, installed a complete backyard full of great looking fescue lawn (the front was sodded by the builder), mulched all of the beds, installed an irrigation system for their patio plants, has an herb, vegetable, and ornamental beds, and maintains all of his gardens on his own! Did I mention his age? No-I don't guess I will, but he is an older gentleman who still gets the job done in the job done in the garden.

Charles gardens attract ALL sorts of birds and butterflies. You may recall his wife Helene sent me some bird information, along with a lovely picture of a cedar waxwing. Having the wide range of flowers attracts these interesting birds and I can tell you from personally seeing the garden, it is beautiful! Colorful, neat, interesting and well put together.

Charles told me his neighbor asked him who maintains his gardens and does he have a gardener? Charles replied, "Helene has a gardener-me! I maintain all of the gardens!" His enthusiasm just was refreshing and I really enjoyed talking to Charles about gardening. I gave him a few suggestions for some shrubs for screening (silverberry or photina-no arborvitae), and he gave me a few suggestions about dogs and fences (dogs make paths around fences-destroy the garden!). We had a good time talking. And oh yeah, Helene and I did get the garden club business completed. Thanks Helene for being so patient!

I want to thank both of the Gardners for their time and it was my pleasure visiting their home and talking to each of them as they truly complement one another, he is the gardener, and she is the flower designer and flower judge. That is why they are my choice for March's Gardener of the Month.

in the garden....

Gardener of the Month

My choice for February's Gardener of the Month is Hanna Bechard of 'A Woman's Touch with a European Flair'. She is a great gardener (though we vary in our opinions on certain plants) and really knows her stuff, but most of all, she is a thoughtful gardener who cares about her clients and people.




When I first came back from Iraq in 2003 I was zeaolously gardening and improving my home and property. One of the to do (must do) things on my list was to make a sidewalk between the back deck stairs and side gate. The previous owners or some other owner of our home in the past had placed round stepping stones lined by landscape timbers, and surrounded by rocks in place for a sidewalk. It was not a workable sidewalk solution at all. I wanted brick. I called a few landscapers in town for an estimate. I don't remember them all but Hanna is one I definitely remembered.




I asked Hanna to come out and give me an estimate for making my sidewalk. She did and although I chose to build the sidewalk myself (with some help from my two boys), I remember Hanna from another experience I had with her.



While here measuring for the sidewalk, guess what else we talked about? Gardening of course. Hanna is also a gardener, which really I couldn't imagine a landscaper NOT being. She told me about her garden and we began talking plants, specifically cannas. I told her I did not have any cannas and she offered to give me some when she divided hers. I profusely thanked her in advance and let her get on her way never expecting to hear from her about any cannas, especially since we didn't hire her.


Imagine my surprise six months later when out of the blue Hanna called me and said I could come and get the cannas. I was stunned to say the least. Most people would probably let it go and forget all about the promise of giving away some flowers to a person she just met once and who didn't do business with her. But not Hanna.



I have not forgotten this little act of remembering and thank her kindly for the cannas. She gave me not just some, but a whole box full. I even shared some with my mail lady who then reciprocated by sharing some hen and chicks with me.



When I met with her this week I found even more reasons to choose her as a gardener of the month. She is really experienced and puts alot of thought and care into everything she does, whether commercially or privately. Currently she is renovating her home to sell to some lucky buyer in the real estate business. I saw the work and it is really good stuff. She is also the mother to a teenager and preteen and a very busy lady.



We talked about the landscaping around her home and what she planned to do to renovate it as well as the house. She and I disagree on a few things (she doesn't like crabapples because they are hard to mow over, I really like crabapples BUT I don't mow over them, she prefers evergreen shrubs for interest whereas I really like a variety of both evergreen and deciduous shrubs) but we also agree on many more things such as the practice of topping being bad, oakleaf hydrangeas and Nellie R. Stevens hollies are SUPER plants to use in a landscape, and providing color can be easily accomplished with the use of perennials and bulbs. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to her and told her I would post this posting sometime this week but that it would not be in the paper. I have since changed my mind and wanted to share it with not only you online blog readers, but also the hard copy newspaper readers as well. I did so enjoy talking with her and found she really does know her stuff and was fun to talk to. Just like most gardeners I meet. This is why I have chosen Hanna Bechard as my choice for February's Gardener of the Month.

The first picture is of Hanna, and the second picture is of some daffodils growing in her yard. You can clearly see the yellow of the flower buds, spring is right around the corner.


in the garden....

Gardener of the Month

I have been promising I would profile some gardeners in our community. I really have been negligent in that it has taken me so long to post my first one! Here she is, Diann Nance.

Diann is a well known gardener in the community due to the extensive community service she has performed, and many clubs she belongs to. Not only is she a member of my garden club, (Beachaven Garden Club), but she is a Master Gardener (a post is forthcoming about the Master Gardeners), a retired school teacher, a part time teacher at Austin Peay, a recipient of Tennessee State University Small Farmer of the Year Award in the Alternative Agriculture category, and a small business owner! She is a hard worker and an asset to anything she is involved with.

Diann's business is called Diann's Greenhouse. She specializes in herbs, but has some fruit and other types of plants as well. When embarking on opening the greenhouse, Diann looked around at what Clarksville had to offer in the way of greenhouses. What she found was herbs were a small niche she could successfully work her way into.

Not only is Diann VERY knowledgeable about growing herbs, but she astounds me at her skills in using the herbs in cooking, soap making, potpourri and many other crafts. Anyone who has had the pleasure of tasting Diann's cooking will know what I am talking about! She is my choice for Gardener of the Month and the first of what I hope to be a long list.

Can you guess what type of fruit is pictured in the second picture? Hint: It is NOT a grapefruit but it is sour. Post your guess in the comment section if you think you know the right answer.

in the garden....

A Determined Gardener

Talking about community gardens means I also must talk about the community gardeners. The one who easily comes to mind is Ann. This is obviously a picture of New Providence Middle School. My son and her daughter have attended this school for going on the third year now. When Ann's daughter entered the school she was determined to beautify the school and that she has done. This picture shows some Crepe Myrtles and Butterfly bushes in front of the school. There are many more plantings around the school besides these-take a look sometime. Ann planted these bushes, mulched and watered them. While this in itself is not all that different from other community gardeners, what is different is the fact she went out and sought donations for the garden, then planted the donated plants in the MIDDLE of the summer of 2005.

I was out there only one day when she was planting and I can assure you, August 2005 felt just as hot as this past August, and the ground was rock hard due to little or no water. Ann diligently watered and cared for these plants (with the help of a few other volunteers) and as you can see, the plants are thriving and have grown tremendously in only two years. Planting in the middle of summer with no water is not the best way to garden and certainly not the easiest as most gardeners will testify, but Ann is a very determined gardener and made quite a difference that will only get better with time. These plants should still grace the school grounds when her grandchildren attend New Providence, and that is quite a feat for a community gardener.

in the garden....