Garden Tour at the home of Jacquelyn Hawkins-McGrail – A Mature Suburban Garden
Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure am ready for this HOT and DRY summer to call it quits and let
Autumn take over! Despite this oppressive weather, we members of Wild Ones Louisville were treated with
two exceptional garden tours in the last 4 weeks. On August 10, we joined Jacquelyn Hawkins-McGrail at
her home in Prospect, and on September 8, we drove out to Simpsonville to visit Mike Yost and his
incredibly the diverse meadow-savannah he has created from what was once mown turf grasses. But first
things first, here is my description Jacquelyn’s garden, which is far too late already.
As I recall, 21 of us joined Jacquelyn on a tour of her front and back yards, which have been transformed
into a space for native plants over many years now. Jacquelyn is a Master Gardener and the garden reflects
her changing focus for her garden over the last decades. Yes, some earlier horticultural non-natives still
grow there (as they do in most of our gardens), but the invasive non-natives have been or are being removed
(some of those darned non-native groundcover vines are tough to eradicate entirely, but she’s getting there!).
The front yard is sloped, so many species are those that can spread via rhizomes and stolons, like Blunt-
leaved Mountain Mint. She has also planted clumped grasses like Dropseed, and sedges amid the taller
forbs (herbs that are NOT in the Grass Family) and they also hold the soil in place well. Short shrubs like
Virginia Sweetspire, Coralberry and Ilex provide a changing topography across her broad front yard. Not
much was blooming out front when we visited, but one look at her species and you can see that there is
enough blooming for pollinator insects for much of the year. Someone asked about some tree seedlings here
and there, but as Jacquelyn explained she allows volunteers of trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials to
grow for later digging and potting up, so she can share the bounty with other gardeners.
After a while, Jacquelyn led us up her driveway to her spacious back yard where sunlight conditions
allow her to grow sun-loving plants in one area, but then shade-tolerant or shade-requiring plants in another
section below a large tree. Blooming in the sunny section that greeted us atop the hill were Ironweed,
Yellow-flowered Cup Plants in impressive upright stands, dotted with Jewelweed, Clethra and sinuously
threaded by a robust Passion Flower Vine in one area. The insect pollinators were indeed very happy there!
The other half of her backyard enjoys the shade of a large spreading Beech Tree, and while you can’t see
them spring ephemerals flowers sleep belowground, awaiting April and May’s return. Meanwhile, ferns,
Christmas and Lenten Rose, and Elephant’s Foot and many others including shrubs, all of which I sadly can
no longer recall, dot the ground. The openness of it allows you to see the Golf Course behind her property
and would let the cooling breezes pass through. I think it should be a perfect location to plant my favorite
shrub, the American Bladdernut with its copious white spring blossoms that feed hungry early bees. But
then again, I’d probably suggest this shrub for almost anyone’s garden! (wink!).
After learning so much from Jacquelyn’s experience, many of us entered her screened in patio to enjoy a
very delicious assortment of salads, deviled eggs, cold herbal teas on lovely glass plates and silverware. I
was so caught up with enjoying the chance to sample the food and chat with folks that I forgot to take
photos! And that is a sad thing because Jacquelyn sure knows not only how to serve delicious food but also
organize them into a lovely table setting.
