Van Bourgondien

July 2006 Winner

Debra Tuttle of Groton, NY is our July 2006 Winner!

Although I would say I am a novice gardener, some of my friends say I am an expert gardener because I am avid about learning the names and different types of the vast array of flowers and shrubs that inhabit my home (and theirs). At a very young age I gained an interest in flower gardening when my great-grandmother would take me out to her beds to cut fresh flowers for the farmhouse.

Even before I had my own home, I was planning and would visit local nurseries. Three years ago I purchased my first home on sixteen acres of woods and meadows in a very rural town of Groton, NY. I was very excited to be able to plant my own flowers and reap the rewards of my hard work; and it is hard work, but worth every moment. My first bed was of tulips and daffodils, thus the pride of my beds comes first thing in the spring with a multitude of tulips; my favorite amongst flowers, which I continue to plant more of each year. Each year it seems the beds not only get bigger, but there seems to be more of them.

There are fence beds, patio beds, rock beds, and island beds; all of which each contain different types of plants, shrubs, and trees including Artesmia, Alliums, Bee-balm, Bleeding Heart, Columbine, Coreopsis, Daisy, Dianthus, Echinacea, Fern, Gaillardia, Grape Hyacinth, Hydrangea, Hosta, Iris, Joseph's Coat Rose, Liatris, Lungwort, Magnolia, Myrtle, Oriental Lilly, Peony, Primrose, Rhododendron, Sweet-Pea, Turtle-head, Veronica, Weigela, and Yucca among many others.

My fiance says that I have an addiction; I am addicted to plants. I spend every chance I get enjoying the rewards that my gardens have to offer. I am thankful to my great-grandmother for her interest in gardening; for without her enthusiasm, my gardens wouldn't be what they are today.