BY LISA BRODY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN SOBCZAK
F
- or dentist David Lieberman and his wife, Anita,
there is no question what the Garden of Eden
probably looked like. David has recreated it on
their property in West Bloomfield. "The day we
signed on the house, the day before we moved in, we plant-
ed a garden of 22 rose bushes," remembers Anita.
"Everything you see, I planted," notes David, whose pas-
sion for gardening goes back to World War II, when at age 8,
he planted a 1-cent package of Victory Garden seeds. "I
planted them on the side of the house. They all came up,
and then died because there was no sun. It was my first gar-
dening lesson."
At 16, David bought his first rose bush by mail from
Jackson and Perkins, and the gardening bug took for good
this time. In addition to the rose garden, David built two
berms in the front. One is filled with salvia, snapdragons,
mums, phlox, iris, dianthus and impatiens, started from seed
each winter. The second berm mimics the shape of the first,
but is filled with perennials, such as coreopsis, lilies, verbe-
na, dahlias, daisies, climbing honeysuckle, black-eyed
Susans, rudbeckia, moonflowers, hibiscus and sunflowers.
Behind this colorful berm, by the front door, David recently
built Anita a new patio, which is filled with pots of tomato
plants, "so I can sit and read my Jewish News every Friday
afternoon," she says with a smile. In the spring, flowering
fruit trees surround the property, as do over 1,000 tulip
bulbs.
In the back, in addition to the trees he planted, David
built a large pond with a rock fountain. It is filled with large
goldfish and water plants, such as water lilies, irises, marsh
marigolds, dwarf papyrus and cattails. Beautiful statuary and
a bench grace the pond. A cornucopia of plant life — dog-
wood trees, redbuds, sugar maples, tri-colored beech, pear
trees, rhododendrons, azaleas, butterfly bushes and spirea
— add to this lush space. A wooded path winds its way to a
natural pond where swans nest near irises, rare blue lobelia,
asters and ferns. "We researched and studied what plants
would be the right ones for this area," says David.
"The flowers grace our home and David's office all sea-
son long," says Anita, who enjoys gardening and the time
with David. "We spend as much time in the garden as we
can, and we're together. Whenever we go to anyone's house,
we bring flowers and tomatoes. David loves to share." Anita
smiles. "David has made our land a park."
I 0 • JUNE 2003 • STYLE /1"1"I'FIE JN
opiikA. 14,
;
".•