Walk on the Wild Side; Azalea Tour 2020

MARCH 2020

Walk on the Wild Side

The April 3rd-5th Azalea Garden Tour showcases some rather non-traditional landscapes, including the Parnell's, a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Susan Wilson's garden, featured in this Newsletter, is a magical mix of folk art ornaments, mosaic pathways, water features and extraordinary plantings. We invite you to take a stroll through the transformation of her amazing garden. (Photos by Bernadette Baker, Susan Wilson and Renee Sauer)

"In 1996, my brand new home on a 1/4 acre came with several pines, a water oak and a few wax myrtles that were spared the blade of development"

... and now is an oasis of beauty.

"Over the past 24 years, my tiny plot of land spoke day by day how it wanted to be endowed. I had no master plan and I am certainly no master gardener. My only goal was from every door and window to look out, to see and touch a leafy, living thing of beauty - in profusion and variety."

Susan's love of gates inspired her to design what she now calls 'Blossom Gate' featuring 16 gates and pathways leading to stone patios, drystack walls, and intricate mosaics created by artisans Homero Santiago and Tereso Martinez Garcia. See if you can spot Daisy by the gate (above).

Susan shares: "Being a Piedmont native, I soon missed the bold stalwartness of stone, tumbled all about our NC foothills. Thank goodness for Stone Garden, akin to a gold mine for garden enhancements."

Drew Thorndyke of Cape Fear Water Gardens , using multi-color river rocks and fieldstone boulders, created this intimate pond now full of happy fish.

Daisy, below, not only enjoys watching the fish in her mom's garden but is more than happy to pose for photos anytime.

We follow Daisy on this nautilus-inspired pebble path that winds us back to the front yard where Susan confides:

"Of course gardens are never finished. As long as I can hold a shovel I will be inviting more in and making Blossom Gate a more lush and comfy abode for LIFE."