Article published in the Greenfield Recorder - Massachusetts.

 July 28,2007

 

HOME & GARDEN - Pat Leuchtman: Between the Rows.

Beware those bearing gifts of lavender!

Before she knew it, Lejeune was taking a pickax to asphalt.

Petite and silver-haired, Jacqueline Lejeune does not look as though she would be very handy with heavy tools. But, the gift of a single lavender plant in 1993 brought her to tasks she had probably never imagined.

Lejeune was born in Britain, but went to Canada to live with a friend, and there she met her husband, Jean-Claude. A job with the British Consulate eventually brought her to Chicago. During those Chicago years, she had many other jobs, from working with a friend as caterers to being the Director of Public Relations for the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The choice of a school for their son, and the desire to leave city life for life in the country, led the Lejeune family to New Hampshire and then to Northfield. Once settled, she began teaching in Warwick. Even after retiring, she spent last year working as a mentor to a teacher new to the school system.

Although she had grown up in the English countryside, Lejeune had never had a garden until they moved to an old farmhouse in Bernardston. They had first seen the house set in the autumnal glory of the New England landscape, but when they moved in during a snowstorm in February of 1993, there was no thought of gardens.

That spring, a friend gave Lejeune that lavender plant. The friend left and Lejeune went outside to decide where to put it. Even a non-gardener knows you have to dig a hole. She set to the job, but it did not take long before she hit asphalt. She had located a paved driveway from long ago.

Not realizing it was a driveway at that point, and not having any idea of the extent of the paving, she set aside the shovel and took up a pickax. She broke up the asphalt, carted it away and settled her lavender plant.

That was the beginning.

The digging and carting away of asphalt and the famous New England stones continued for a couple of years. This is Lejeune's garden and she did the work.

Of digging and planting there has been no end. Other plants arrived from friends, some were purchased and they all increased, calling for more digging, breaking up paving with a pickax, carting the heavy debris away and planting more. Creating the various flower beds that now gently curve through the lawn was a very long, slow business, but, "It is addictive," Lejeune says. "Every day I go out in the garden and make some little improvements."

This is a garden that is in bloom in every season. A great clump of old-fashioned lilacs has grown from a small division a friend gave her. There are low-growing roses and California Poppies that pop up everywhere, as they do so delightfully.

The garden demands the construction skills of her husband, as well. The arbor that supports the lush Dorothy Perkins climbing rose had to be rebuilt and reinforced because the rose was so heavy.

In early summer, golden perennials like Gloriosa Daisies and Threadleaf Coreopsis begin their bloom season.

Now, in midsummer, the annuals are in full bloom, airy blossomed cleome, cosmos, sunflowers, asters, snapdragons and the bright cheerful zinnias that her husband loves so much. Some have been placed together because they make such a good combination, like the sunny calendula and the sky blue cornflower.

There are plants for the shade, like the impatiens on the north side of the house and hostas along the drive. Hostas are considered shade plants, but they seem quite adaptable to sunny locations. "This year, the hostas in full sun are doing particularly well. I think it is because of all the rain," Lejeune said.

Morning glories and hanging pots make the a bower of the porch, where they can enjoy meals and watch the swallows who live in their barn, or keep track of the bobwhites that live in the field behind the barn.

Herbs like parsley, cilantro, basil and thyme have their own bed. Various sedums make attractive ground covers.

In autumn, there will be dahlias.

Although vegetables do not play a large part in the Lejeune garden, vigorous tomato plants thrive in a bed near the barn, as do beans. Especially in these days when it is so easy to find beautiful fresh produce locally, I understand why some people give up their vegetable gardens. But, there is nothing like a ripe tomato, straight off the vine. Lejeune obviously agrees.

It is such a pleasure to be invited into someone's garden. First there is the beauty that immediately engages the eye. And then there is the history of the garden. No garden is the same from one year to the next. There are the stories of plants that have thrived under the most daunting of conditions. There are plants that come with a history of friendship and shared interests. There are funny moments. Lejeune's neighbor once commented on a garden sculpture - that was merely one of the endless piles of stone that had not yet been carted away.

The greatest pleasure is to meet a gardener like Lejeune and come to know that a true gardener is made of strength, persistence, patience and generosity, as well as a love of flowers.

 

Pat Leuchtman has been writing and gardening in Heath at End of the Road Farm since 1980. She also is the Buckland librarian.

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