My name is Deborah Elliott. I am married to Lou, and we have three grown sons. Our home is located on three and one half acres of rolling, partially wooded land in Helena, Alabama, where we have lived since 1985. We are on the edge of zones 7b/8a for hardiness, but plants here have survived more than occasional hard frosts. Plants in my garden have endured torrential rains and extended drought, scorching summers and smothering humidity, strange fungal diseases, children on bicycles, digging dogs, and a husband with a weed eater and chain saw. In 1990 a tornado took out most of the trees in the center of our property, and in 1993 we had a real blizzard that dumped three feet of snow on top of everything. A gardener in Helena has to be resilient; I think that is probably true in the rest of the country as well!
I am not a horticulturist or landscape professional, though I am a certified master gardener. I have learned everything I know about gardening from books and journals, other gardeners, and the hard master of trial and error. The purpose of this blog is to share my garden and to offer inspiration and advice to other gardeners.
I started this blog in October, 2009, and while I had been gardening for a long time, I was very new to blogging. I was dragged into the computer age by teenage boys, and I continue to learn on a need-to-know basis.
When I turned fifty (I won't say how long ago that was!) I promised myself I would learn something new every year for the rest of my life. So here's to exploring the botanical blogosphere!