What Makes Your Garden Special?

Those of us who love to garden invariably have a special plant, memento or object d’art that makes our garden special and like no other.  I have a friend who collects large glass platters and places them artfully in her garden.  Another displays stunning, brightly colored leaves made of concrete.  Yet another has perennials from each house she lived in.  You get the picture; the things we collect and care for give a history to our gardens. 

I have some stunning yellow daylilies that I dug up from my sister’s first house 28 years ago. The street she lived on was “Glenmary” and I call them my “Glenmary” daylilies.  Each time I  moved, I would dig them up and replant them.  My hope was that, one day, I would give them to my niece- she was born in the house with the “Glenmary” daylilies. This July, she and her husband will move to their first home.  My housewarming gift will be the daylilies that I dug from her first home. To me, that’s amazingly special.  

At Longview Farm Park, members of Mason Ridge Garden Club tend to the gardens around the house.  We have something we think is special in the gardens as well.  It’s our “Most Precious Pig.”  Let me tell you about her.

Back in 2000, when the City of Town & Country purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Andy Zinsmeyer, a few items were left behind.  One of them was a wooden planter in the shape of a pig.  In 2002, members of Mason Ridge Garden Club began clearing the honeysuckle and poison ivy from the front gardens and we found her and made her our mascot.  She was stunning, but in desperate need of a makeover.  One weekend, she went to the spa and came back with a new coat of paint, eyelashes and bright pink lipstick. 

Every volunteer that worked the gardens at Longview got to sign the pig’s belly.  We had one of the contractors help us out with his bobcat.  My friend, Bruce, visiting from Portland, helped out and signed the pig as well. In time, friends, spouses and children signed her belly.  

Unfortunately, time and the weather took its toll on the pig.  Her feet deteriorated.  Her sides cracked and split.  Spring of 2007 found our beloved mascot broken beyond repair.  We bid her farewell, but I couldn’t bear to throw her away.  I brought her home.  It was my hope that I would find a woodworker who could rebuild her.

My prayers were answered last fall.  I found a handyman who thought he could repair the pig.  I was thrilled and told him to take his time; I didn’t need it until spring 2011.  My handyman purchased all new wood, using the old pig as the pattern.  She arrived a few months later and I was beyond thrilled.   She was once again sturdy and shapely.  I kept the rope tail from the old pig and proudly placed it on our new, improved model.  She got a fresh coat of paint and was ready in time for our first day back to the park in March. 

I arrived earlier than everyone else that day, placing her in her rightful place in the front garden.  No one could believe it!  She was as shapely and stunning as the original pig.  I brought a few sharpies and we all signed our name on her belly.  Our 10th season in the garden began with the rebirth of our perfect, most precious pig.  

Feel free to stop by see our mascot; she’s sporting a beautiful Boston fern.  I hope you love her as we do- she makes the gardens at Longview Farm Park very special to us! 

What “thing” makes your garden special to you?