and stacked stone can be rearranged whenever
he and Madonna decide that a bed needs to be
bigger or a path’s contour can be improved.
Once Greg’s job was done, it was
Madonna’s turn to create beauty on a budget.
Tall, showy blooms such as larkspur play
against dusty miller, liriope, and other foliage
plants. Pansies, dianthus, and trailing verbena
provide eye appeal at foot level.
Most of her larkspur can be traced to a
packet of seeds bought for a dollar long ago.
Other key spring blooms such as peonies and
irises were gifts of seeds, cuttings, and
divisions from family and friends.
“Now that my garden is filled up,” Madonna
says, “I enjoy returning the favor.”
F or b u y
i n f o r m a t ion seepage
21
o .
An artist, Madonna Phillips,
left,
paints her
landscape in vivid purples, pinks, blues, and
greens. Thanks to a division from an
heirloom plant in her mother’s garden,
Madonna enjoys peonies,
above,
in her
borders. Knock Out roses, larkspur, and
bearded irises frame a flea-market birdbath
in this corner of the garden,
above left.
1 4 0
MARCH 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
