BLUEBONNET GARDEN CLUB NAMES JUNE “YARD OF THE MONTH”

  

The Bluebonnet Garden Club has awarded the June yard of the month to 404 Sycamore Street. The home is of the federal style built in 1931 and has been loved and lived in by three generations of the Knolle-Routt family. The two stone urns on the sidewalk steps are planted with periwinkles in shades of pink and white  and the ones near the porch contain Kimberley Queen ferns. A beautiful old Setsugekka Sasanque camellia, planted in 1944, anchors the west side and a Professor Sargent Japonica camellia on the east. The front flower beds contain holly with a border of Miss Muffet caladiums at the base. In addition there are three white Natchez crepe myrtles in the yard.

Along the driveway is a rock wall and narrow bed anchored by a sycamore tree which has provided a nesting place for great horned owls, Mississippi kites, whistling ducks, and many other birds. The bed is filled with crimson bottle brush, Spirea bridal wreath, Duranta, azaleas, Esperanza yellow bell, lantana, Mexican milkweed, phlox, Turks cap, shrimp plant, salvia, purple cone flowers, climbing roses, pink and white coral vine, helix, and numerous herbs use for culinary purposes. All these plants attract and provide food for hummingbirds and butterflies.

In the backyard is a grand oak tree planted in 1932 from a small seedling. This tree has sheltered raccoons, possums, squirrels, honey bees and song birds. Other plantings include East Texas pines, little gem magnolias, oak and sycamore trees, ligustrums, cherry laurels, white butterfly ginger, mock orange, gardenias, oak leaf hydrangea, Feijoa pineapple guava and 40+ year old azaleas. There are also numerous varieties of Japonica and Sasanqua camellias and assorted ferns that have been added over the years.  This yard is truly a special place that has been lovingly tended and evolving over three generations.

(Story courtesy Linda Blum, Bluebonnet Garden Club)