Close Your Eyes. Breathe In. Can You Smell the Roses?

This article is more about the gardener than the garden. Beverly is an amazing person. She is courageous, has a wonderful sense of humor and absolutely loves gardening. She does have a fear of spiders and big dogs, especially when she doesn’t know where they are. You see, Beverly is blind.

Beverly wasn’t always blind, but because of a skin disorder that attacked both of her corneas, she gradually became completely blind and has been so for the last 22 years.        

She grew up following her mother around the yard and getting her hands into the dirt learning all about plants. Because Beverly originally had sight, she can visualize colors from memory and when she plants any flowers, she designs not just for herself but for others that can see her hosta, hydrangea and soloman seal.

Beverly's grandchildren love to come over and smell the flowers with her. What a wonderful memory they will keep of their grandmother in her garden. I believe Beverly’s legacy to her grandchildren will be for them to take all of their senses in consideration, don’t take anything for granted and literally take the time to stop and smell the roses.

For herself, she plants a sensory garden, which in her case is a garden for touch and scent. She has a shaded yard so her choice of plantings are limited, but around the deck she has planted honeysuckle vine for the fragrance in early summer.

Potted up on the only sunny spot on her deck are many herbs for both the fragrance and for cooking which include parsley, mint, basil, lavender, and rosemary. Next year she plans on adding lemon verbena to the list. I recommended she plant lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), a native of India, that is widely used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. When the lemon grass is cut toward the base of the plant the lemon scent is surprisingly strong.

The perennial lambs ear has the softest foliage of any plant I’ve ever felt but requires more sun than she has, so it will not grow well in her shady yard. However she can grow artemisia which also has soft-to-the touch foliage.

Beverly really enjoys sitting out on her back deck listening to the birds. She has a CD of bird calls so she can identify which bird is singing. Earlier this summer when the cicadas were making all their noise, she could tell that there was one somewhere on the deck. As she sat quietly trying to discern exactly where on the deck this cicada was, another cicada dropped out of a tree and landed right in her lap which startled her so much that she jumped up out of the chair screaming. She laughs about it now, but I can only imagine how frightening it must have been to have that happen, especially when you don’t know what it was. Oooh, I get shivers down my back just thinking about it.

Since she gardens by touch, Beverly doesn’t wear gloves to be able to determine which plant is which and to feel the foliage to check for insect damage. There again, she could be putting her hands right into a spider web, a nest of ants or worse.

Beverly’s wonderful sense of humor shows when she has been seen wandering around the neighborhood trying to locate a very fragrant scent, or she ends up in the neighbor's yard weeding away not realizing she’s gone that far. She jokingly said that she should install an electric fence for herself and wear the collar so that she gets a warning when she is close to crossing over into a neighbor’s yard. Her son gave her a portable wood burning fire pit to sit on the deck for those cool evenings, but she feels that a blind person starting a fire might not be the best idea, so she hasn’t used it—yet.

Oh yes, there is also a  story about a power washer, but maybe I’ll leave that for another time.

I think Beverly is a remarkable woman. She just feels that she does what she can to have a sense of accomplishment and independence. I walked away thinking that I truly take my sight for granted.

If you are interested in gardening, learning about gardening or joining a garden club, stop by the Community Association Clubhouse, the second Monday morning of each month and sit in on a meeting of the Jardin du Lac Garden Club.  Meetings start at 9:30 a.m.

If you have a beautifully landscaped yard or have unique garden ornaments that you are proud of and would like to see featured on Patch.com, or have any gardening questions, contact Peggy at Bahrmasel@msn.com.