"I got into sculptures of birds and flow-
ers rather than plants. It's like a little art
gallery," she says.
Indeed, many of her flowers are either
brightly colored ceramics posted high
along the fence tops or spring from the
ground as large metal sculptures. A vari-
ety of colorful bird houses are sprinkled
throughout the yard.
Animal and birds, often made out of
metal, may be grouped in threes around
a chair or bench. "It's like they're having
a tea party," she says. After all, "I'm a rela-
tionship therapist!'
And so, a sawed off tree trunk with a
stubby branch has the shape of a tea pot
which she amends by resting a whimsical
ceramic tea pot on top and a wrought-iron
one nearby.
Dead plants, rather than being removed,
may be spray painted and/or repotted to
live alongside their live counterparts.
Her mail box, spray-painted gold, is
surrounded by smaller, painted, wooden
replicas of mail boxes and a cluster of
matching metal flower sculptures rising
out of a bed of ornamental grasses
"I do a lot of spray painting:' Stone says,
pointing out a family of once dull-metal
roosters that have been re-outfitted in psy-
chedelic colors.
Her two (real) white standard poodles,
Lola and Olivia, when not enthusiasti-
cally following after Stone and barking
to announce visitors, have their own
garden niches, on doggie beds shaded by
the driveway portico. One garden sign,
declares: "Dogs have paw prints on our
hearts!'
Its quite fantastic, says Marcia
Mumbrue, another West Bloomfielder,
who happened on Stone's garden and was
invited to see it up close. "She has some
really nice plantings. And it's so much
fun!'
Although there's no lawn, there are plen-
ty of ornamental grasses. And trees tend
to be "weepers," a favorite of her friend
Howard Camden, whose garden also has
been featured in the Jewish News.
"I showed her how to trim them:'
Camden says. Her garden "is different and
interesting. It's her artistic way!'
"It might seem overwhelming on first
glance Stone says, of both her house
and garden. "Everything jumps out and
becomes sensory overload. But when you
take it down to the elements, it's pretty
basic!'
For neighborhood walkers such as
Wormser, Stone's garden is a sight she
often shares with friends and her six
grandchildren. "All six of them know it
as the 'happy house, " she says. "It's a fun
place to go walking!' Li

May 1 6 2008

A17