Hyacinth bean pods are free for the asking at the arbor gate.
Katherine Kip is a gardener who rarely buys plants. More often than not she acquires plants from other gardeners or propagates her own from cuttings. A walk through her Rosewood home garden is a tour of not only many fabulous old- fashioned plants but stories of the people and places she associates with the plants.
Kip remarks, “I identify plants with the people who gave them to me… My grandmothers were in the garden club and loved gardens.”
The Kip residence was built in 1920. Although she did not know the original owner, evidence of the owner’s fondness for plants and gardens is the foundation for Kip’s garden.
An aged tulip magnolia, Magnolia x soulangeana, with fuzzy pussywillow- like buds shades one side of the house. A dogwood so large Kip cannot get her arms around the trunk reigns in the backyard. The backyard is fenced in camellias propagated by the original owner in a greenhouse whose only remnants are the concrete floor now used as a patio.
Kip has transplanted an abundance of memories from the garden of a beloved aunt in Kentucky throughout her garden. Solomon’s seal and hosta adapted well in the shade of shrubs. The chameleon plant is a fast spreading ground cover equally happy in shade or sun.
Black- eyed susan vines greet visitors at the garden gate around an arbor covered in purple hyacinth bean. Kip shares the pods with friends and neighbors. From her aunt’s herb collection Kip has a pair of yellow flowering St. John’s Wort shrubs and several horseradish plants.
After bringing several cultivars of hydrangea from Kentucky, Kip continues to add to her collection.
A sweet shrub was grown by Kip’s great grandmother for its aromatic leaves, bark, and flower. Callycanthus floridus goes by common many names including Carolina allspice, American nutmeg, and sweet Betsy. Kip’s mother gave her a plant from her yard. Ripened seeds are the easiest way to propagate more of this southern favorite.
Chicken manure gave Mexican sage a growth spurt.
Other passalong plants in her garden are kerria, Kerria japonica, montbretia, Crocosmia pottsii, and turk’s cap, Malvaviscus arboreus. Kerria is a yellow flowering shrub which grows well in the shade and spreads via underground runners. Montbretia attracts hummingbirds to its burnt orange flowers. Turk’s cap produces red blossoms continuously from early summer to late fall enticing hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths. The plant is at home in shade or sun.
As an offshoot of gardening, Kip creates floral designs for weddings with many of the plants she grows. As the mother of a one- year- old, she is cultivating the next generation of Kip family gardeners.
Kip extols the virtues of the var iegated daphne “with longer, stronger, and sweeter blossoms” while holding onto a kerr ia branch.
Several winters ago, Kip rescued an intoxicated cedar waxwing at the pyracantha.
Mexican sage reaches its peak of performance in fall.
Two generations in the garden — Katherine with daughter, Annabelle.
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