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TOP JOBS

The fourth garden on our five garden 2008 Smith County Master Gardener Spring Tour belongs to Tommy and Sharlotte Hyde at 1915 Chilton.

It is a perfect example of a small city garden. This is just the size many home owners want and need, especially, as they turn from raising their family to traveling or just wanting less home and garden maintenance. In the four short years since Sharlotte fell in love with this home, the Hydes have taken an overgrown, neglected backyard and transformed it into a beautiful garden room, an extension of their lovely Azalea District home.

Although built in the 1950s by Elizabeth Bell, the wife of Henry Bell, Sr., this amazing home has been brought up to date, while maintaining its unique charm.

From the artfully-crafted, house number plaque at the front door to the Chippendale style, wrought iron back gate, it is filled with paintings, ceramics, photographs, and whimsical folk art pieces.

At each turn, the guest is delighted at the prospect, and Sharlotte is the artist-in-residence of many of the creations, including the garden design.

When beginning to clear years of weeds and vines, which had taken over the space, Sharlotte and Tommy, a landscape, irrigation, and maintenance specialist with businesses in Tyler and Greenville, were happy to find long established brick walks and bed borders, still in excellent condition.

There were only three oaks and three maples remaining of the original garden. All the plants the garden visitors will see on the Tour have been installed by the Hydes. While Tommy and his crew have done all the "heavy lifting," it is Sharlotte and her eclectic sense of style that has determined much of the garden design.

The azalea beds have come of age this year, and form a graceful backdrop for all the perennials and annuals, which add the seasonal color and texture so necessary for an interesting garden.

When one of the oaks fell in a storm last year, the Hydes designed and built "The Rocking Place." This beautiful arbor is an outdoor entertainment center with cooking station and dining facilities and, of course, a place to sit, rock, reflect, and talk after a long day of garden work.

They frequently entertain friends and family in this outdoor living room. In the warm months, they gather around one of "Sharlotte's Whimsies," a water fountain of wildly painted and arranged teapots and tea cups, reminiscent of "Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter's Tea Party." In the winter, the fountain is replaced with a fire pit to take away the chill of late evenings. Having such flexibility, makes it a great year-round space.

All through the garden, bright examples of Sharlotte's whimsical decorating style entertain the viewer. Colorful, hand-painted pillows with stylized leaves and flowers adorn rockers and benches. Amazing broken-china art can be found on antique metal benches. Throughout the garden, brightly colored, glass mushrooms add bright color and interesting form to the beds. It is just this artful combining of interesting elements that gives this garden its unique style.

Large aqua pots imported from Vietnam stand on either side of the stairs leading from the house to the garden. Old wrought iron fences add interest and structure to many of the flower beds, which are filled with Pentas lanceolata, Torenia fournieri, Blue Daze "Evolvulus glomeratus,'' and Fairy Roses - Polyanthus roses known and loved by gardeners for more than 70 years.

An old wagon is filled with summer-blooming Lantana, and purple and white Clematis grow in profusion on lovely trellises. Beds with Daylilies 'Hemerocallis,' and white ginger "Zingiber zerumbet'' add even more seasonal color.

Large, old, weeping Yaupons in large antique containers define the south end of the garden space. Several different cultivars of English Iris (I. xiphioides) grow in various spots, adding wonderful color during their blooming cycle.

This whimsical garden is a place that shows all the hard work, artful planning, and fun that went into its creation. It is a prime example of what can be done with a small space to make it as beautiful, enchanting, and useful as a larger garden, while ensuring that it is easier to maintain. This gives the gardeners, like Sharlotte and Tommy Hyde, more time to enjoy their lovely, garden room.

Delphiniums belong to the Family Ranunculaceae. The name is said to be derived from the shape of the bud, which was thought to look like a fat dolphin. Dot Moth and Small Angle Shade Butterflies love this plant. All parts contain the poisonous alkaloid "delphinine." These tall beauties love full sun and moist, well-drained soil, with a pH that is neutral to slightly alkaline.

They are heavy feeders and like well-rotted manure or all purpose garden fertilizer of 10-10-10, as growth begins and after first flowering. It is recommended that as soon as it finishes flowering, the flower stalk be removed all the way down to the leaves. This will encourage new flower stalks to grow and bloom in late summer or early fall.

The stems ,which are hollow, withstand wind and rain best when staked. Grown from seed it will bloom the second season. It is not long lived - perhaps 2 or 3 years. While it can be susceptible to aphids, in my opinion, the outstanding beauty of this flower makes it worth planting.

"What's Blooming In Our Garden'' is a regular feature of the Tyler Morning Telegraph Garden Page. It is written by Mary Claire Rowe, a Master Gardener with the Texas Cooperative Extension, and focuses on flowers and plant life around East Texas. To share your comments on gardening, write her in care of the Morning Telegraph.