This past weekend Mimi and I left Garden Works mid morning to head to Fondren for the Bottle Tree festival. We weren’t sure we would be able to pull away for a few hours because things were lining up to be a perfect “garden center Saturday”. The weather was perfect, the truckloads of bushes and trees have been displayed, pottery is set, fall bedding plants are rooted out and blooming, the truckload of houseplants came in this week , the place is full and ready. While we were debating to go or not we realized these things only happen every once in a while and the people on this fantastic tour are people that shop with us, we decided to go for it, our crew can handle it for sure but the more of us available to help the customers the better it is for all of us. We got to the place to buy tickets around 10:30 and picked up our lanyard with our proof of purchase card festival logo and a map that hangs around your neck. With that we were able to pick out the yards we would see and easily make our way towards them. All of the yards to be toured were concentrated in close proximity of each other so finding them was easy and minutes away from each other. We started seeing people we recognized right away and continued seeing familiar faces throughout the tour. It was nice to be able to chat with folks while we were not in business mode but rather a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
We went to several places, we started at Becky and Don Potts house first. Their yard was hard to leave, there was so much to see.they have collected so many cool plants over the years and have developed a pattern of wrapping up the warm season to protect there more tender plants. I saw two greenhouses for winter protection. The two greenhouses were settled into their compound along with a full stable for their miniature horse named Buttercup. She was chilling in her stall and the kids gravitated her way while their parents walked around. In their yard there were a number of vignettes that I didn’t realize I was in until I was in one. Each vignettes had a slightly different theme and everywhere were plants that would make you look down and there were plants that would make you look up. They have been at it for so long they have a collection of plants and containers that made it hard to leave. I was thinking we could never get tired of finding new and interesting things catching our eyes. I love that they have nurtured moss as their “lawn”. That is rare to see here in humid Jackson but the had the right amount of sunlight and shade and moisture to have a really cool looking ground with paths all over the yard. We saw plants that Becky had to tell us the names of and the story behind them. She treasures her finds and has a special place in mind when she come s home with them. Felder decided to park himself at the Potts house, at least while we were there, so we got to visit with our old gardening friend. It was great to catch up with Felder and hear about life in England where he resides for many months of the year. His life in England intrigues me now that I’ve been watching Gardeners World, a gardening show set in England. I now know that their gardening climate is so much different than ours and the methods they use are new to me. I had been wondering what it must be like to make the transition from our gardening world to theirs must be like. I enjoyed being able to spend some time chatting with him about those things. The three of us wandered down the street to his house and before we knew it we were in his yard seeing and hearing about his plans for the future, so interesting to see things from his point of view, I always learn something new from him and find it a delight to share stories with him.
We went on from there to a couple of yards that wouldn’t be on the tour until Sunday because we don’t read directions very well. We wound up next at Kim John Sewells gorgeous front yard. This couple has had a lot of fun doing projects in their yard and had some very creative and great looking features that were built by them, some stemming from the pandemic days when they realized that they had one extra time on their hands. We loved the bright colors in the hard features and in the plant material that they used. The Sewells use quite a few Gold Sword Yucca plants for their bright chartreuse and spiky foilage, they had the nicest looking Yuccas I’ve ever seen. Sunshine ligustrums were spotted around for other big bangs of color. I saw where Kim had started two baby Ginkgo trees to make up for one giant one in their yard that was going through a rough time, I think she was preparing herself for the eventual loss of that tree which ultimately was the reason they wanted that house. I tried it figure out what was going wrong with this old Ginkgo, I saw possible signs of beetle Boeings in the trunk, might not have been the direct cause of the damage but sometimes just an exposed open wound on a tree is the pathway for other troubles. I bet she has a few more years with this tree but it is sad when these things happen. The Sewells yard looks like a many an afternoon wine sipping, neighborhood meeting place with its very inviting place to sit and watch the world go by.
We went around the corner to our old friend Susie Cranstons place. You’ve probably seen this place if you’ve cruised through Fondren. She has all the birdhouses. we couldn’t wait to be able to see this yard from the inside looking out. The first thing I noticed were the 20 foot tall swamp Sunfloers in full bloom, I’m a huge fan and use them for their very dramatic show of bright yellow, daisy like blooms. She had created quite a wall with hers and I saw a few more clumps of them down the road from her so I guess she started a trend. Suisie taught both of my sisters and some of my cousins at St. Richard’s and at St. Joe. She also frequents all of the garden centers around town including ours. We appreciate that and we are always glad to see her coming with her positive vibe and funny stories, I love being around old time Jacksonians who remember the early days here in our home town. The birdhouse collection had us mesmerized. She had collected for years all kinds of birdhouses but the ones that caught my eyes were the ones made by an man in Arkansas that were suspended from a the branches of a giant oak tree in her font yard. Those you can see just by driving by but you won’t see the meticulous care that she has put into her beds, very neat and well thought out, I saw a lot of perennials which takes a lot off of someone’s work load. She had enough going on there to keep her plate full. The first thing Mimi noticed before we got out of the car was a squirrel that had decided to take the leap of death by trying to climb from one level of the power line to the next level. Let’s just say he had not studied the book on electric conductivity. He was now more like squirrel jerky with fur. Susie was so funny about that and even pointed it out in case we hadn’t noticed that she left it there as a warning to other squirrels that she wasn’t fooling around, she was at war. Over the years the neighborhood squirrel squad had ganged up on her and her plethora of bird feeds she has because she is a bird lover. They have chewed their way into every thing she has tried to hide the feeds in to keep it safe from these marauders. They chewed their way into sturdy boxes, the garage, the house , the closet in the house to the point where she now has resorted to storing the seeds in her car. They might not figure that one out but lord help her (and them) if they chew their way into her car.
We thoroughly enjoyed the visits that we had time to see that were on the Saturday schedule and wish we could have seen them all. It was great seeing our old friends in their places and we enjoyed chatting with other attendees, it’s the funnest thing for us to get ideas and to learn new ways by being toured through every garden as each one is as unique as are the people who gardens. The stories behind the gardens are the most interesting to me. When they started, why they started and the years long processes that come along with a tended garden.
It was our time to head back to a busy Saturday at the nursery but my stomach was growling and one of my favorite parts of Fondren is the food choices. We were both in the mood for some Pig And Pint, always good. I got the trifecta tacos, i got one fried green tomatoes taco with slaw , one with short rib and one with chicken. They were so good and the portions were huge, I tried to put the hurt on it but they hurt me back. I would need a cup of coffee from one of the local coffee places to get me moving again. We saw our old friend Scott Jackson, the owner of Pig And Pint, he always makes us feel at home while we eat some great barbecue. We were exited to hear that he is planning to expand his business out our way somewhere in Madison county, good news for us!
Mimi and I will always try our best to make time for these kinds of events, it’s an excuse for us to hang out together for a few hours and the notes that we take become an important part of our planning for our gardening future. Thank you Fondren for the opportunity.
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