Never, do I drink a cup of tea without thinking of my Grandma Vi. She would always take time out from all her hard farm work to have tea parties with me when I was a little girl. She had 4 fancy china teacups, each with a different colored rose & gold trim on the rims & delicate handles. The tea kettle was not fancy but she had a tea-ball for steeping loose tea. She let me use as much sugar as I wanted & never once scolded over spills. Once we made mud-pies topped with birdseed & baked them in the oven for our tea party. But usually we had homemade sweet treats fresh from her oven. Often we baked them together.

You had to careful if the parakeet was let out of his cage. He'd fly around and might try to land on your cup for a sip of tea too. When he lit on my head his little bird claws felt scratchy. Billy Boy was his name, he'd say so, if you asked. And if you inquired, "Are you a pretty boy", he'd reply, "pretty boy, pretty boy". Any time someone walked in the backdoor, Billy would call a greeting, "Hell-ooo! Rosey". (Rosey was the neighbor lady) Once Billy Boy did take a bath in my cup of milk. We laughed so hard as milk flew every-which-way!

I loved staying at my Grandma's house on the farm. Grandma loved little children. She was so full of fun & told the best bed-time stories. Everyone in the family encouraged her to write her stories down so they wouldn't be lost but she never did.

I remember talking with Grandma as we held hands, and walked under the high-shade canopy of the old trees out in the grove. I remember, gentle fragrances of blue belles, & violets, & earthy smells of the woodland. We always picked a handful of wild flowers even if it was just dandelions. Grandma would tell the saga of how she came to be named, Violet Nevada Baer, as we gathered little violets for a center-bouquet on her old wooden table. She claimed her father named her for the first flower he saw after learning of her birth, while he was out in the state of Nevada. She married George Baer thus becoming named for a flower, a state, and an animal. It's was an astonishing tale to a child. And now, a story I cherish. I hope that one day, my grand-daughter will hold cherished memories of times spent with her nana.

It seems that from the moment I could walk, Grandma had me helping in the vegetable garden. And it seemed, there was always strawberries to pick. I was terrified of the bees but that didn't let me off the hook. There was always rhubarb to pull to dip in sugar and chomp on. I can feel the tingle in my jaws just thinking about it. In later years, Grandma came to stay at my house & helped me plant my vegetable garden several times in the springtime.

It almost seems, as if I grew-up in the garden. And when I ask that question all children do, "Where did I come from?" The answer was, "We found you out in the cabbage patch."

When I had my own home, and family, and garden, Grandma & Grandpa Baer were my ever-faithful mentors. Any time we visited the farm, we went home with plants, and home-canned foods, frozen foods, and baked foods. I remember irises, Grandma gave us wouldn't bloom. I called her long-distance & learned about not planting iris too deep. Good memories go on and on. I tell my grandchildren stories about my grandpa & grandma, just as I did my children when they were growing up. Hopefully, Grandpa & Grandma's "garden legacy" will grow on, generation-to-generation.

Flower Bed #3 - 'Grandma's Garden' - In Remembrance of George Baer & Violet Nevada (Gazaway) Baer.

Silver Mound does great for me in blistering sun & very poor clay soil. My grandson cuts it clear back for me at the end of the growing season. This is a must grow plant. And it's so easy.

One of the classic hostas.
M-Lg plant

Trudy once said she wished this hosta had a better name. We decided that it's name is appropriate if it signifies that this plant is the "Gold Standard" for all other hostas to be measured by.

It holds a place of honor here in garden bed #3 (Grandma's Garden). It gets quite a bit of hot afternoon sun & usually tolerates it well. Of course, the amount of sun light a Gold Standard plant gets will determine the color & ability to stay attractive until frost. I have a young Japanese Maple planted in that bed now to help shade this plant.

I grew this spider form day lily from a seed Becky, an internet friend sent me. I didn't know I liked spider form day lilies but I do!

These colors are not "touched up". This is a true picture of my young Dream Weaver before the frost, hail, bugs, heat, & drought all but destroyed it this season '05.

Allan P. Mc Connell is one of the first hostas I ever bought. It was so pretty & small I got 4 plants. They come up early to delight me in spring-time.

This most well-known surprise lily grows vigorously from a 2" bulb. In mid to late summer long after we've forgotten where the long leaves grew in early spring, they erupt from dormancy to entertain & delight us. Each strong straight stem is topped with a cluster of 6-8 slightly nodding lilac pink flowers that put on a spectacular short show. Their fragrance is intoxicating to both humans & bees. I've seen bees drunkly plummet from bloom to bloom gorging themselves with summer's last feast.

Surprise lily comes from the orient either Japan or China or maybe both. They thrive in poor soils & like full sun the best but will grow in part shade. An absolute "no care" wonderfully, fun plant.

I bought this plant at the 2004 National Hosta Convention auction. I know very little about it except it was introduced by Frank Nyikos; Walnut Grove Nursery; Unionville, Indiana who donated the plant to the auction. It has grown well in heavy clay soil. Slugs have left it alone. I love the shining elongated leaf shape.

I've learned this little tree is famous for its coral / pink bark. I think of it as red. The name loosely translated means coral tower (rising upward). I bought 2 of these tiny baby trees at K-Mart in one gallon pots a few years ago. They were only $6.00 each. I couldn't resist. I got one for my mom & one for me. Mom didn't want such a tiny specimen so I got to keep them both.

I knew enough about Japanese Maples to not plant them in blazing hot sun & I thought they might need shelter from cold north winter winds. I wasn't sure they would survive zone 5b growing conditions but they were so cheap I thought it was worth a try. I planted them both in garden #3 but the one closest to the house deck refused to grow. It didn't die but other plants were crowding it & it wasn't getting much sun, then there was the heavy cold clay soil to contend with too. So I had to move it 2 years ago (praying for it's survival the whole time). The poor little thing got it's own space in garden #12 C with more sunshine but no open cold winds or direct hot noon-sun. It's growing well & is just the cutest little thing still only about 3 feet tall now. I love it! The tree left in bed #3 has grown amazingly well. It's taller than me now not noticing the formable clay soil. This tree is just wonderful through all four seasons. The red bark glows like hot embers in winter whiteness. The fine leaves emerge so delicately in spring their lime-green-pink color persists through summer. The fading early fall color is a facade for the brilliance that is still to come.

To learn more about Japanese Maple 'Sango Kaku' & other varieties of Japanese Maples click on the following links. But be careful you could get hooked.

www.paghat.com/coralbark.html

www.worldplants.com/mapleintro.htm