What you don’t see from the road in the yard of Nancy Kerr at 1210 City Lake Road selected by the Madill Rose Garden Club as April Yard of the Month is truly amazing and different every day. To really enjoy her yard to the fullest, a walk around the trail at Raymond Gary Park is a must.
Kerr’s’s goal is to have year-round color with high wildlife value. A large Redbud tree is blooming now, along with pink, white and lavender phlox, Texas Blue bonnets, Indian Paintbrushes, and False Garlic inside the circle drive creating her Patriot Garden of red, white and blue.
Next up to bloom will be pink knockout roses, white miniature roses, pink oriental lilies, pink dianthus, purple, heirloom Irises, and pink Crepe Myrtles, including a lavender one. The pink oriental lilies and pink and lavender Crepe Myrtles were brought from Kerr’s’s previous house on McArthur, along with the purple, heirloom Irises – which had been planted by Margaret Godfrey at the McArthur house.
All the trees around the perimeter were kept to provide shelter for rabbits and other small animals that live near the lake. Summertime will find Kerr’s’s house surrounded with blooming Coreopsis, originally found on the lot growing wild, Russian Sage, purple Mexican Petunias, yellow Japanese Iris, and butterfly/ hummingbird plantings of Zinnias, Cosmos, and Coneflowers.
Marigold beds are placed near outside seating spaces to keep mosquitoes at bay. Late summer and early fall Black-Eyed Susans, Indian Blankets, and Calendula are expected to show. In the wintertime, the dwarf Nandinas turn a beautiful red and the English Heather blooms pink.
Kerr said she believes it is very important to nurture the pollinators and provide food for them. Therefore, while she keeps the yard near the house mowed, the outer yard is kept native to help the Paintbrushes survive.
Paintbrushes are a hemi-parasite plant, needing a host plant to share a root system so letting the flowers and the native grass go to seed before mowing helps encourage next year’s crop. Since the city must keep the park mowed for public use, keeping the Paintbrushes thriving on her lot provides some nature interest and enjoyment for the park users and helps keep some original native plants intact.
Kerr said her favorite part of the day is when she can stop what she is doing, relax on her front porch, and enjoy all the color in her yard and the view of the lake at sunset. She calls it “God’s Paintings.”
So, take a walk around the trail at Raymond Gary Park, get some exercise, fresh air, and take in all the awesome beauty of Kerr’s yard. And bring your dogs – she keeps fresh water in dog bowls out front by the trail for all four-legged friends.