We write, we paint, we plant, we build
All things for the Glory of God
Gardens
Garden Accessories
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- '67 Satellite
Paintings
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- Potential Energy
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- Tilden Building 3
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- The Write Brothers
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- Cassiopeia
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- Pond Yacht Club
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- The Grandchildren of GusGus
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- Untitled
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- Lily
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- Kites, Rouge
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- Pail and Bucket Set
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- Dramamine
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- Galway Magenta
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- Groovy Birdbath
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- Imagination
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- Bill Incognito
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- "Boy Howdy"
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- Tyranny of the Mirror
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- Blue Birdbath/Bluebird Bath
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- "Your Turn"
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- God's Children
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- The Tilden Building 1
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- Blurredbathes
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- Pink Garden Study
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- Which Way
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- Best Costume
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- The Unloved Cassarole
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- Broken String
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- Bill Went Shopping
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- Mod Bird Baths
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- One Size Fits Most
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- Pink Des Moine
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- Windy Day
Words
Kerria
How do we forget about things we really like? It happens sometimes. I have rediscovered some of my favorite t-shirts at the bottom of the stack and wondered how we ever got estranged, saying, “Oh man, I FORGOT about you!” Well, these same kinds of reunions happen occasionally with plants I have “misplaced.” I was […]
Morticulture
Sometimes you just have to say something. This is the time for a Mass Horticultural Intervention. I have had enough, heard the denials, and seen the damage their behavior is doing. This addiction is not only destroying their souls, it is destroying your plants. Oh, at first it is easy to dismiss as just an […]
Smugness and Sentimentality
There is no room for smugness. Among those of us who make gardens, we have, if truth be told, more failures and more “unfulfilled expectations” than we have great successes. This truth was made painfully clear to me this past week as my beloved Edgeworthia wilted and expired. This large and old specimen was a […]
Apples
It was somewhere between Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. I was riding my bicycle on one of those roads that criss-crosses Iowa with a checkerboard-like perpendicularity, cutting straight paths through the fields of corn. They have an almost tunnel-like feel to them at the end of the growing season, as the crops on either side […]
Sugar Maple
“A gentle plea for debris” could almost be the theme of this message. You see, it was the quiet beauty of fallen leaves on a sidewalk that spoke to me each day as I left the inn where I was staying. Softening my footfalls on the unyielding concrete, they daily became smaller chips of color […]
God Likes Toys
“God likes toys.” The phrase came to mind as I scrolled through the images. A little time on my hands had given me the opportunity to search for pictures of my favorite plants, and this is a sort of “active meditation” that I enjoy. The eyes thus entertained, the mind is free to wander at […]
Low Maintenance Kids
Jojo would like a pogo stick. The twins could use hiking boots. The youngest boy needs some dirt. Dirt?! “I’m serious about the dirt. They have used all of ours”. This was confirmation that I had gotten the message straight. My daughter was telling me that for Christmas her youngest son would like some “dirt”. […]
White Moths and Jelly Beans
That stack of magazines is a curiosity to me now. A large pile, maybe 7 or 8 years worth of “Gourmet” magazine were neatly placed in a corner of the living room where I grew up. This was an incongruity in a home where dinner was more likely to be a Manwich than to be […]
Crinum Lily
Audrey Hepburn in thrift-store Chanel. A graceful lily with somewhat threadbare clothing. That is the essence of the Crinum Lily, to my mind. One of the joys of gardening, of keeping company with plants, is to find nobility deigning to “room” with riffraff like us. And to find that these aristocrats are undemanding….well, that is […]
To Lift One’s Soul
Gardens are for people. The purpose of making a garden is to create an extraordinary place for people. Like any art, we can evoke emotions and promote thought within our gardens. At its best, a garden is a sculpture through which our friends may stroll, a sculpture populated by miracles and charm, wonder and beauty. […]
Bio
It was in the mid-1970’s that Jeff was introduced to the beauty of plants. His brother Mark had begun growing Orchids in their room and Jeff was intrigued by them. Looking through the catalogs that began to arrive in the mail, he learned of flowers of a grace and exoticism that has never ceased to fascinate him.
Thus inspired, Jeff received a degree in horticulture from the University of Georgia. He was fortunate to make the acquaintance of Ryan Gainey, who introduced him to the concept of a “garden.” As a suburban kid, Jeff had only known of “landscaping” and “yardwork,” words that depress him to this very day.
Jeff began his own business in Atlanta in 1986, and moved to Augusta in 1995. Today, Jeff and his wife Brianna make and maintain gardens in the Summerville area of Augusta. Whether that entails building walls or patios, making wooden benches and trellises, casting concrete water features…. they do it all in the context of creating garden spaces for people to enjoy God’s creations and presence.
