Describe your garden.
I have an average-sized suburban yard where I have created garden vignettes using hardscapes, garden art, perennials, and annuals. I plant mostly native perennials, but I always use annuals for all-year color.
Tell us about the first time you ever gardened.
I bought my first home in 1990 and my then boyfriend encouraged me to plant some flowers in the front. We bought 6 marigolds and he told me to plant them 6 inches apart. I told him we needed to get more and plant them closer. I was hooked right then and there!
What is your favorite way to use Wave Petunias?
I love to plant Wave Petunias in my window boxes. Little known fact…every house I’ve ever owned has had window boxes. I also like to plant them on a trellis which leans against my 75+ year old maple tree in my backyard.
Give one suggestion for what a gardener can do with the Wave Pink Pot after they take the petunias out of it.
I over-winter my geraniums. They are tender perennials, and don’t survive Michigan winters. Pink pots are perfect for replanting them for my grow lab and/or propagating new plants!
If you could have one gardening superpower, what would it be?
Although I enjoy wildlife, I don’t enjoy them eating my beautiful blooms! My superpower would be to be able to invite wildlife into my backyard without them eating a thing!!!
Share your secrets! What’s the best gardening hack you know?
It’s not really a secret, but I keep a gardening journal on my phone. When I am sitting in the garden and have a thought about where I can move something, or what I could plant, what I need to do, what I did, etc…. I write it down. I systematically go through the list in the spring, throughout the summer, and in the fall to check off my to-dos!
Would You Rather…
…never have to weed again or never have to water again?
I find both relaxing, but weeding can be annoying in the cracks of my driveway!
…plant only red flowers or never see another red flower?
I LOVE red flowers! That is my favorite color of Wave Petunias! But I’d have to give them up if
it was the only color in my garden.
…do without gardening tools for a year or do without plant food for a year?
For sure no plant food. They will survive a year, but I wouldn’t without my tools!
When did you become a Master Gardener, and what inspired you to do so?
I took the Master Gardeners course in March of 2021. I finished in June and became a full-fledged Master Gardener In February of 2022. I run the FB page of our local Master Gardener’s association. A friend of mine and myself always said we wanted to take the course when we retired. Although she retired several years before me, she waited until I retired, and we became Master Gardeners together!
What is your favorite DIY transformation you’ve done (either in the house or in the garden)?
This is a hard one, but it definitely has to be my garden! The before and after pictures really indicate how much blood, sweat and tears I’ve put into it. It’s been 21 years in the making and still is my proudest accomplishment!