R Steve introduced Allison. She isn't 22 but he still chooses her.
One of Allison's passions is gardening. She has many gardening books and she reads and plans her garden during the winter months for spring. She typically plants a few hundred bulbs each fall.
An advantage to a large garden is less grass to cut which Steve appreciates
.
Allison is a Mojito Gardener. She has a monument to prove it. Idea is she works hard in spring when cooler to get garden ready then relaxes in shade during summer with a Mojito and appreciates the garden.
She took us on a tour of primarily the front roadside garden from early spring to winter. Her goal is to have variety and colour all through the growing season and then 'interest' in winter.
She loves to talk about gardening and is a wealth of knowledge of plants.
Plants along the road are drought and salt tolerant, lower down the plants are more suitable to wetter conditions in the ditch.
Plants were often selected for the pollenators such as bees and butterflies.
The front garden is generally planted like the rainbow with colours moving across the front.
Some gardening books she recommended are:
The Art of Perennial Gardening by Patrick Lima (she is a big fan of Patrick)
Rain Gardens, Sustainable Landscaping for a Beautiful Yard and a Healthy World by Lynn M Steiner and robert W Domm
Fall Scaping, Extending your garden season into autumn by Nancy J Ondra and Stephanie Cohen
The Well-Designed Mixed Garden byt Tracy Disabato-Aust
If you have question, want to visit the garden, Allison if willing to talk and share.