One of my oldest and dearest friends is Jane. She is quiet about her service to others, and what she does is so meaningful.
We have known each other since Bruton Bends days in the early 70’s. She, John (John is really neat also.), lived in a house, and we were in the apartments across the street. This is how special Jane is. She taught Number One Son to ride a tricycle, and made wonderful petit fours for his bride’s wedding shower. Jane has done a bazillion other things in between and beyond. Good friend!
Jane has the most amazing gardens. Her gardens are filled with unusual plants with different textures and colors. People slow down to observe her gardens. I kid you not! (It happened yesterday!)
When I asked to come take pictures of her garden, she mentioned how hot it had been, and she didn’t know if there would be much to see. But there was. It was so much fun, even though I was sweating like Richard Simmons to the Oldies. (There are sites that have “sweating like” sayings, and some I can not repeat.)
Last week Jane told me she had Naked Ladies in her yard. That got my attention. Then she told me about the lilies called Naked Ladies. They have no leaves at the top (so they are naked.). Some other names for these are Spider Lilies, Hurricane Lily or School House Lily because they bloom around the time of the hurricane season and the start of school. Beautiful!
Dahlia are in bloom even in this heat. Isn’t it purty.
Be still my heart. This is another gorgeous dahlia.
Seattle Yellow dahlia. Jane and John have a special connection to Seattle, and thus she had to have this one. I love it!
This is wonderful. It is a Mexican Petunia, and it works great as a boarder. As you can tell, it can take the heat. Jane knows about heat tolerant plants. She is so smart.
The Brazilian hibiscus is a native plant that can be found wild. I like the white blooms with the dark red centers.
Can you believe this Cox Comb? Sweet Mother of Pearl! It is humongous, bright red, and so velvety. Beyond amazing.
The red Cox Combs with the white Allium is beautiful.
What you have to understand is that Jane does all this work herself. She lays walks, and boarder stones, plants plants and tends to the entire yard. I do not see how she does it, but all her hard work pays off in a fantastic yard.
These colors are spectacular together. Beautiful! I think they are Coleus and Persian Shield.
Everywhere you look there are interesting objects. The farm animals gate is one of my favorites.
No Southern garden would be complete without a bottle tree. It always makes me smile. Super!
This is so creative. Jane took a dead crape myrtle, turned it upside down, and made it into a sculpture in her garden.
Have you ever felt Lamb’s Ear leaves? They are so soft and – well – they feel like a lamb’s ear.
Look at Jane’s fern bed. It is “a good thing”! I want a fern bed.
I will show you one last plant. I think it is called Amaranth. Jane gave me a planting early this summer. Hers grew to a nice two to three foot bush with red blooms. Mine was the Jolly Green and Red Giant of the neighborhood. It was over six feet tall (probably nine feet tall – I kid you not), and it had huge blooms. The top was pretty (The base was woody.), but it was out of place in my little garden. Go figure – I finally get something to grow, and it is a monster. I do not believe that it would have grown like that for Jane. It would have known better. 
Perhaps Jane is a lawn whisperer. I truly think she is. She has such a green thumb, and plants behave for her. What I have shown you is just a tiny part of Jane’s garden. We will visit Miss Jane’s garden again.
Jane, thank you for sharing.
“The kiss of sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.”
Dorothy Frances Gurney
Blessings to you and yours,