joy of these gardeners' lives.
United States." There he grew staples
— tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, pota-
toes, and onions, and planted a few
fruit trees. Wherever, and whatever, I
always grew something."
Sandra Brown of West Bloomfield
hasn't been gardening quite as long as
Lou Golden, but it became a passion
as a newlywed in her first home. A
claims adjuster by day, and a gardener
most of the rest of the time, she has
lived in her current home for 27 years,
and has watched her gardening evolve.
"Mother Nature is dictating and
telling me how my yard should keep
changing," she says. "For example, I
never planted ferns, but for the last
eight years, I have had ferns. I used to
have a lot of trees, but I have lost some
to storms, and now I have different
lighting. And some trees are much dif-
ferent — they have grown a lot."
Brown enjoys a perennial garden,
which she accents with annuals such as
marigolds and salvia for color. Her
yard is bursting with bleeding heart,
Jacob's ladder, lamb's ear, irises, tulips,
daffodils, blackeved Susans, purple
coneflowers, daisies, six varieties of
hostsas, astilbes, days lilies, several
kinds of mums and ground covers.
"Hostas are my very favorite, because I
like the texture," she says. "They get so
full and carpetlike, with wonderful
textures and shapes."
Jeannette Olson of West Bloomfield
has a Monet-like garden that reminds
her of "my growing up years in the
south of France. Beautiful flowers
hang from balconies, climb up walls,
fill gardens and grow wild in fields,"
she muses. "I have loved flowers since
childhood, but I never attempted seri-
ous gardening due to a lack of confi-
dence."
Until five years ago, her property
was "typical suburbia" with bushes,
trees "and lots of nice green grass. We
had a deck built a number of years
ago, and the view was anything but
exciting. It was peaceful but boring."
That all changed with a trip
Jeannette and her daughter took five
years ago to Paris. One of their tours
took them to Claude Monet's house in
Giverny. "The myriad of colors and
textures so enchanted me that it was
the motivation I needed to start my
own Monet garden."
She found a sunny spot in her yard,
dug up some of her husband's cher-
ished green grass (he is of the low-
maintenance gardening mindset —
hiring someone to cut the lawn week-
ly), planted a few perennials and annu-
als, surrounded them with flagstone,
"and lo and behold! I had a garden."
"Everything grew and looked beau-
tiful," Olson says, "and I was able to
keep the weeds under control. Before
that summer was over, I doubled the
area, added bulbs and more perennials,
and waited through winter to see what
surprises were in store for me."
Her second summer, she added a
second area and planted more perenni-
als for a succession of color. Recently,
she added a shade garden.
Catalog companies like Springhill,
Parkseed and Breck's must love her as
much as she loves gardening. "They're
often more expensive, but they will
give you your money back if it doesn't
grow, and they explain more about
where to grow the plants and how to
plant them," she says.
Olson loves her beautiful poppies,
irises, liatris, zinnias, bee balm, rabbit's
ear, lilies and zinnias. She loves the
controlled beauty of a planned garden,
and does not enjoy wildflowers.
"I can stand outside in the rain
and enjoy my gardens," she says. "I
never tire of it."
Olson acknowledges that she
mulches inconsistently, and never
composts.
Golden and Brown believe strongly
in the wonders of composting. "Like
life," Golden says, "you have to enrich
the soil."
Brown began a compost pile many
years ago, and was amazed at the ease
and how quickly she got results. "I
started with some leaves when I
cleaned the beds, and I discovered by
early spring that they were breaking
down. I didn't get much in the begin-
ning, but three years later, it was the
most wonderful, rich peat that I could
use in my beds."
While everyone's interpretation of
the perfect garden is individual, each is
wonderful to gaze at, as well as to
work in.
"There is so much joy in gardening,"
says Sandra Brown. "It is a hobby that
you can put into what and how much
you want to. It's up to you." ❑
Metro Detroit's Jewish
Assisted Living Community
Lila Lazarus and her grandmother, Mrs. Herta Orbach
Elan Village's monthly rate includes:
• 24 hour Personal Care Assistance
• Three Kosher Meals Daily
• Housekeeping and Personal Laundry
Services
• Social, Cultural and Educational
Programs Daily
• On-Site Licensed Nurse and Medical
Services
• Medication Management
Deluxe Suite Available
Call today to schedule a tour
JANET ANTIN (248) 386-0303
26051 Lahser Road • Southfield, Michigan 48034
Elan Village provides
Care that Changes with You
Preferred Provider of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
6/23
2000
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