Photo of the Day - April 23, 2007 - Nanny's Garden

This was taken of my grandmother Nanny's backyard in the early 1950's. I canned it from a slide. I grew up working in Nanny's yard, and learned gardening pretty much from her. But I was not yet born when this picture was taken. By the time I was old enough to appreciate things the garden/yard had matured and was even more beautiful - with Azalea, Dogwood, Camellia, Lily, Hydrangea, Tea Olive, Eleagnus, Boxwood (the real kind) and much more! And, by the way, the Loblolly Pines in this creek bottom were/are the largest in Columbia - well over 120 feet - maybe taller - approaching the size of the world record Loblolly's in Congaree Swamp. No kidding. They were amazing. I could lie in the grass and look up at them all day! Many present owners are cutting them down because of the straw on the roofs and fear that the trees will fall on the houses. Plus the new owners generally have no clue about what they have inherited with these yards and gardens. Makes me sad. But Nanny's garden lives in my memory as clear as day. I can 'see" every plant, every footpath. And I can "see" Nanny out pruning as if it were yesterday She was a classy lady! About the house in the background...if you look across the bridge you can see a large area of ground covered by straw. The owners of that house planted a huge shrubbery maze there - it was incredible. As little kids we would run around and get lost in it. Over time, as the dogwoods and other plants matured, in the Spring and Summer when the leaves were all out, you couldn't even see that house.

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