Van Bourgondien

April 2006 Winner

Kathy Landrum of Biloxi, MS is our April 2006 Winner!

I live in Biloxi, Mississippi, and yes, I was affected by Katrina. During the storm, I was naturally in fear for our family and friends, but I also worried about my house and gardens too. Luckily, I planted a lot of perennials and bulbs because things are blooming again and lots of birds have come back to the area now.

Have you ever heard of building the garden before building the house? Well that’s what I did. I spent the first 7 years living in a mobile home on my property while I planned and planted the gardens before I built my house. People would always ask me where the house was going to go, and my reply would be "RIGHT THERE" as I pointed to the middle of my property.

As the house was being built, I was digging the beds right alongside the workers. Luckily for me, some of the guys were gardeners at heart, so I shared plants with them so that they wouldn’t destroy what I had started. Everyone is amazed at how well my house fits “into” my gardens. I had no gardening experience before this, but I liked the results so much that I enrolled in the Master Gardener program here, and decided to get a degree in Horticulture!