This month’s Yard of the Month reminds me of Spring in Bloom.  What caught our eye first was the Bradford Pear and Dogwood in full bloom as we entered the circle.  A lovely mailbox filled with painted birds and flowers holds your eye as you come to the driveway flanked by boxwoods.  The Brassfield’s front yard is filled with wonderful specimen plants such as a Sweet Olive, Chinese Fringe (Loropetalum) and a Banana Bush (Fuscata), which is becoming a very popular spring blooming bush because of its powerful fruity fragrance of bananas.  Your eye follows and edging of variegated Liriope, with blooming Azaleas, and Spirea, flanked with evergreens and arborvitae.  And there is a lovely white bench in the front yard, which allows you to sit and take in all theses wonderful plants including some African Lilies and Hydrangeas as well.  We were invited into the back yard, which was transformed into a lovely paved “courtyard” that has a lovely white Gazebo complete with swing and fan.  The pathways invite you to wander through paths accented by a fountain or a statue that will lead you to snapdragons, lantana, pentas, ornamental cabbages, plumbago, an herb garden, crepe myrtle, azaleas and camellias.  You end at an Arbor where the Brassfields had their wedding ceremony in 2000.  Donald and Mary Jo have put forth a joint effort in gardening and Mary Jo has only enhanced with her artistic touches on the mailbox and backyard shed and the lovely wreath on the front door, making their home and their yard a lovely addition to Lake Forest.  We are proud to present the Brassfield’s with a gift certificate from Home Depot.  I would like to pass along a little saying from Mary Jo, which may very well apply to most of us gardeners – “Gardeners don’t grow old, they just “spade” away.  Happy Spring!

Yard of the Month Archive