Newnan-Coweta Magazine, May/June 2010

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MAGAZINE

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Newnan-Coweta Magazine is published bi-monthly by The Times-Herald, Inc., 16 Jefferson St., Newnan, GA 30263.

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This much-cherished strawberry pot in Sally Hensley's garden was a gift from a friend.

– Photo by Katherine McCall

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May/June 2010

contents 14

44

8 Features 8

60

IN THE GARDEN WITH SALLY HENSLEY Our Thoughtful Gardener columnist Katherine McCall shares a Q&A with gardener friend Sally Hensley.

14 IT’S A COLORFUL LIFE Gerald and Mary Ann Denney’s Fern Cove Daylily Farm is a family operation that boasts 1,000 hybrid daylilies.

18 LIZ TEDDER’S

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION Historic Oak Grove Plantation near Palmetto has undergone quite a transformation thanks to the loving hands of Liz Tedder.

24 MY PATCHWORK GARDEN Longtime Coweta gardener Ruth Schroeder offers tips on beautifying your garden with architecture and accent pieces.

28 THE AZALEA CHASER Newnan gardener Joan Adcock specializes in native azaleas and now tends some 6,000 of the beautiful plants she so loves.

32 BEAUTIFYING PUBLIC SPACES From the Driftwood Garden Club to the maintenance team at Ashley Park, some very public gardeners are making sure Coweta has something pretty to look at along the way.

44 COWETA OPENS THE GARDEN GATES Coweta gardeners find inspiration at the annual spring tour of gardens, Market Days on the square and the Surplus Vegetable Market in the summer.

46 THE WONDERFUL JOURNEY OF NATHANIEL WOODSON

Formerly a member of The Drifters, now Nate Woodson is making a joyful noise at his church home in Newnan and thinking about a musical comeback.

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Departments

54

36 LOCAL HERITAGE The romantic history of Dunaway Gardens continues to draw visitors, and now brides, to the historic gardens near Roscoe.

40 THE THOUGHTFUL GARDENER With its classic, large-petaled blossoms, the magnolia remains a favorite of southern gardeners.

50 TINA’S TIPS Some Coweta women have been busy creating beautiful children’s clothing for spring.

54 SADDLE UP Suzanne Jones and daughter Brittany Jones Sommers specialize in family-oriented fun at Meadow Wood Farm.

58 THE BABY FILES A storytime visit goes awry when a young mom fantasizes about being praised as the perfect mother.

60 COWETA COOKS Nine-year-old Sarah Culbreth enjoys cooking tasty, healthy meals for her family.

66 I AM COWETA Meet Beverly Maddox, a Master Gardener who enjoys growing perennials, evergreens and flowering shrubs.

In every issue

7 EDITOR’S LETTER 63 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 64 THE BOOKSHELF

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{

The hen I was 8 years old, my family – in one of the best moves it would ever make – left fast-growing Cobb County for the slower living and greener pastures of Haralson County. My dad grew up farming in south Georgia and longed for that life, so almost immediately he set about gardening and farming. We had goats, cows, hogs and chickens. Soon several huge vegetable gardens were plowed, planted with corn, tomatoes, beans, peas, squash, cabbage, lettuce, carrots and potatoes. Strawberries will never again taste as good as those Daddy grew, and before long my mother was tending flowers and rose beds as well.

Frankly, it was all a little too Green Acres for me back then. I was a bookworm who’d rather stay inside and read than do anything else in the world, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt me a bit to have to help with the garden (very) occasionally.

Naturally, I would now love to have those gardens I didn’t appreciate back in the day. My very wise sister commented recently that we grew up eating organically but didn’t realize it until later.

Better late than never, I say!

This year, if I don’t get those heirloom tomatoes I’ve been coveting it won’t be for lack of trying. I placed my Baker Creek Heirloom Seed order as soon as I got the catalog, but it still wasn’t early enough to nab a packet of the Green Zebras a

From the Editor }

Life friend told me about. Next year! The ones I did order are happily sprouting in their starter pots, and with apologies to General Larry Platt, I Just Can’t Wait to Get My Plants in the Ground.

Flowers are my real passion. After living in a new home for three years and being so indecisive about the landscape that I never lifted a shovel, I knew it was time to start moving some dirt around. So what if I don’t do things perfectly?

Already I have overpruned the roses, who loved it, and overwatered a miniature African violet, who didn’t. Onward!

I’ve been reading lots of garden catalogs and delightful gardening books this spring (let me know if you have any recommendations), and when I’m potting up plants and weeding I couldn’t be happier. What took me so long? I am also blessed with a husband who cranks up the riding lawnmower every time a blade of grass even thinks about growing too high, so my support staff is superb.

I’ve long admired gardeners – the ones in my family, the ones in my community – and now I hope to join the ranks. To all my kindred spirits out there: This issue of the magazine is for you!

Warmly,

Angela McRae, Editor angela@newnan.com

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In the Garden with Sally Hensley Story and photos by Katherine McCall

ally Hensley, her husband Dan and daughters Carlisle and Lucy have called Newnan home since 1997. A Master Gardener and member of the Driftwood Garden Club, Sally is an avid collector of plants, great stories and memories, and all things blue and white.

NCM: Your yard has a great flow to it with many different points of interest – patio, topiary collection, potting bench, side garden – yet it is not huge. Did this come about as a plan or did it evolve?

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A gift of a blue and white demitasse cup inspired Sally Hensley to begin collecting blue and white decorative pieces.

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Sally: My husband and I built this house in 1998, and the yard was bare. We had some basic landscaping done, and I requested some specific plants and structural elements. For example, when the patio was built, I asked them not to take it all the way to the house – it left room for a planting bed between the house and patio. I gave my architect the measurements for the potting bench, and a nook was created for that. I knew I wanted a garden on the side by the back door along the drive so I had that heavily composted. Other than that, it has just grown as we have had time to put attention in certain areas.

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NCM: I love your blue and white.

How did you come up with that idea and where have you gotten everything?

Sally: While in college, a sorority sister gave me a blue and white demitasse cup, and that started a collection which has grown throughout the years. I had it inside my home, so it seemed natural to carry that theme into my outdoor rooms. Outside, the blue and white makes all the green really pop. It has come from all over – Fernandina Beach, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, and Ross, here in Newnan – anywhere I see it. A lot of the pots came from a great Italian terra cotta place in Marshall, Texas. My husband and I took a truck there one weekend and loaded up.

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NCM: I love the bottle tree. I’ve seen a lot of them and actually my very favorite one is in the movie Saving Winn Dixie, but yours is the best “real” one I’ve seen – lots of branches and reflective light.

Sally: Bottle trees originated in the Mississippi Delta, and they’re known as “poor man’s stained glass.” I’ve also heard that slaves used them to keep “haints” away. I’ve always wanted one and was in Greenwood, Miss., the heart of the Delta, in 2002, and saw this one and knew it was mine. I’ve learned to use different size bottles and keep a palette of blue and white, clear, purple and turquoise. A few mirrors and sparkly, gaudy things help, too!

NCM: The potting bench is a vignette.

Is it really functional?

Sally: Yes, it definitely is! I have “staged” that area to make it look attractive because it is so visible, but it is my storage area and where I do all my potting, cuttings and seedlings.

NCM: It’s like a functional area inside our homes, like the sink area in the kitchen. We “decorate” so it is aesthetically pleasing, but functionality comes first. What a

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great idea. Did you purchase it ready made?

Sally: No, the nicest retired man in Jackson made it for me, and I told him I wanted it to last longer than I do so it is incredibly sturdy.

NCM: Your topiary collection is a beautiful focal point on your patio and is very unusual.

Sally: Most people, when they visit, are intrigued by the topiaries. The ivy is from our yard in Chattanooga where we lived from 1982 to 1988. I can’t really remember how I started the collection. We hadn’t planted that bed, and I put a few topiaries over there, they did well, and I just kept adding more. I’ve gotten the forms from all over – even one from a trash pile on the side of the street.

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NCM: When I was photographing the side yard I noticed a beautiful minty-colored strawberry pot that is very large. Is that a family heirloom?

Sally: In a way it is because it came from a close friend who was my children’s godmother and was like a surrogate grandmother to them.

Her name is Mary Edith Yarbro Rose, and our driveways connected when we lived in Jackson. When we moved to Newnan, Mary Edith gave me that strawberry pot which had been her great-grandmother’s.

Mary Edith’s mother was a serious gardener, and Mary Edith passed on many plants to me from her mother. You know, passalong plants are the coolest. I love all the perennials in my side yard that came from Mary Edith.

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Sally: My grandfather, Pop Pop, was a member of the Greenville, S.C. Garden Club back in the day when men were Garden Club members.

He had a one-acre lot next door to his house and several greenhouses.

He specialized in camellias and azaleas and developed a pink camellia variety named the “Sissie Taylor� for me.

NCM: What a special legacy for you and your children! Your personality infuses your garden and makes it a welcoming place. Thanks for having us. NCM

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NCM: Speaking of family, I know your love of gardening has been influenced by your father, Roy Carlisle Taylor Jr., and your grandfather, Roy Carlisle Taylor. Tell me about your grandfather.

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Life ...

It’s a

at the Denneys’ daylily farm, Fern Cove

By Elizabeth Richardson | Photos by Bob Fraley & The Times-Herald

erald Denney, 78, has lived a life as colorful as the daylily farm he and his wife, Mary Ann, call home on Coweta County’s west side.

Gerald served in the military in Korea and Japan. He was a fashion designer who made gowns for a British actress. He retired in 1995 as the vice president of an oil company in Florida. He even found time to teach Sunday school, which is where he and his wife met and fell in love.

Gerald now spends his days carefully tending over 1,000 named hybrid daylilies at the Fern Cove Daylily Farm – and he’s never been happier. He says the songs of the birds, the smell of the outdoors and the sea of rainbowed petals are his heaven.

“I love all that,” said Gerald. “I have grown plants all of my life.”

The idea to grow daylilies in retirement was suggested by friends in Florida. He brought some plants

to Georgia on the moving van, planning to start a small garden.

“I never intended to have three acres of daylilies,” he said. “They multiply well.”

Gerald grew up poor in rural Tennessee and recalls dividing flowers at age seven because he wanted to turn a little into a lot. Part of the appeal of daylilies was that they’re perennial.

“They will always come back, and they will always come back

Mary Ann and Gerald Denney

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more,� said Gerald.

Mary Ann Denney retired from her career as a schoolteacher in June 2009. This is the first spring she’s gotten to work alongside her husband in the outdoors. She’s still getting accustomed to a different way of life but says a love of gardening was equally cultivated in her family. “I have so enjoyed this spring after working 40 years,� said Mary Ann. “The growing of things is in your blood.�

Her father took part in the Temple Avenue surplus market for 30 years, and Fern Cove Daylily Farm is on her family’s property. Her parents lived in Atlanta and planned to retire there until they got lost one day and stumbled on the Jim Starr Road property.

But it was her husband who really taught her to appreciate

nature’s beauty.

For years, Gerald was responsible for the flower arrangements in the sanctuary of Macedonia Baptist Church. Mary Ann said her husband could create something beautiful out of wildflowers on the side of the road. “Gerald has taught me the beauty of everything. He has the gift of design and of making beautiful gardens.�

The daylilies have fun names like Happy Returns, Peach Cobbler, Saucy Lady and Pardon Me. June is the peak season for blooms, though there are named hybrids that bloom early – like the Stella De Oro – and those that bloom late.

Daylilies can grow as tall as 42 inches, though most are 20-30 inches in height. The Denneys have every color of flower except true blue –

though they come close with amethyst and lavender. The flowers are sold bare root and need full sun as well as plenty of water and attention, according to Gerald.

Gerald’s favorite flower is the Dublin Elaine because it multiplies and blooms really well.

The Denneys say operations have been trial and error while they seek the right balance of work and relaxation. They want to share the farm with the community in June but not let it tie them down. Like other retired couples, they want to make time for travel and their grandchildren since they have six and another on the way. They’ve now made their business a family affair. “We want it to be a family farm – a place where our grandchildren can help dig,� said Mary Ann. Five of their grandchildren live on the farm.

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Mary Ann’s son, Brad West, has planted approximately 15 acres of fruits and vegetables on the property, which is run as a separate operation – North Coweta Produce. Brad will manage the Temple Avenue surplus market this year, following in the footsteps of his family.

Mary Ann’s other son, Ryan West, helps with their Web site and farm irrigation, and he even built them an outbuilding for business operations. “We want the farm to provide for our families, and it has, really,� said Mary Ann. “We have to work hard though, because it’s not easy.

We love the farm – it becomes a part of you. It’s important to our family that we hold on to this.�

It’s also important to the Denneys to share it with others.

Mary Ann and Gerald Denney like the fact their daylily farm is a family affair.

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The farm is open for self-guided tours, bird watchers and anyone else desiring to escape the fast pace of life for a little solitude. “Our Lord Jesus Christ led us to do this,� said Mary Ann. As much as they like the flowers, they also like talking with people and building relationships. “It’s a method to reach people for Christ. “This is God’s creation and we want to glorify him.�

Gerald Denney said he enjoys seeing visitors “totally spellbound� by the farm that he takes so much pride in. “They ask me if I know how blessed I am, and I certainly do.�

Anyone is welcome to tour the gardens by appointment. For more information, visit them online at ferncove.com. NCM

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Liz Tedder’s magnificent obsession –

Oak Grove

by W. Winston Skinner | Photos courtesy of The Times-Herald

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iz Tedder is a woman of vision, energy and faith – so it is not entirely unexpected that she sees God’s hand in her family’s move 27 years ago to Oak Grove Plantation in northern Coweta County.

“I can only say the providence of God,” Tedder reflected – walking through the beautiful plantings around the 1830s dwelling and

recalling how her family came to live there. Then, with a hearty smile, she added, “That’s not politically correct.”

Maybe not, but the story of how the Tedders came to be Cowetans does have some near biblical twists and turns. George and Liz Tedder had decided to move from their Stone Mountain subdivision, and they were looking for a historic home with grounds that Liz could use her gardening skills to transform.

“I wanted one where I could design the gardens,” Tedder

remembered. Her dream was a house on a knoll “where the leaves would blow off,” she added.

On a September day, they traveled to western Georgia, checking houses in Griffin, Greenville and West Point. Not having found what they were seeking, the Tedders decided to stop by the Powers’ Crossroads Festival. They visited Moss Oak Plantation, which was for sale at the time. “It was not my dream,” Tedder said.

At the festival, they stopped at the Newnan-Coweta Historical MAY/JUNE 2010 | 19

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Society booth. One of the NCHS members was a real estate agent, who told the Tedders about some homes in Newnan that were for sale. “If you’re interested in property, there’s a house on 29,� the woman told them, explaining how to find it and that there was not a sign.

When they got to Oak Grove, which was built as a home for the Arnold family, Tedder liked what she saw.

The stately home – on the requested knoll – reminded her of the big homes she admired as a girl in Valdosta.

She knocked on the door and learned the house was under contract. The owner let her look around. The more Tedder saw, the sadder she was that the property already had a buyer.

Tedder stayed in contact with the owner. When the planned sale collapsed at the last moment, she and George drove down from Stone Mountain and bought the home and 10 acres.

Since then, Liz Tedder has transformed the grounds around the old home. Oak Grove had been tenant property for much of its history, starting in 1886. There was no garden – “not a single thing,�

Tedder noted – when they bought Oak Grove. “I got to plant everything but the big oak trees.�

Volunteers – sometimes called Liz’s Weed Women – have helped over the years, learning gardening secrets and being paid in plants.

The carriage house and a restored slave cottage at Oak Grove are now bed-and-breakfast rooms. The gardens are open the first Saturday in May and October from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The $10 admission is a donation that goes toward a fund to replace the fence around the Arnold family cemetery a short walk from the house.

The gardens are magnificent – and varied. There is a formal garden, where the Tedders’ children got married, featuring phlox, peonies, daylilies and coral tulips. “I just love white against green,� Tedder said. In recent weeks, snowy dogwood, azalea, hydrangea and irises have contributed to that combination.

Many of the plants came to Oak Grove because of Tedder’s natural connection with other local plant lovers. When she was putting the gardens together, she often would stop “where somebody had a garden.�

Boxwoods and daffodils are among the gifts she received from friends as the years passed.

At the Tedder home Oak Grove are, clockwise from top, a rock wall lined with colorful flowers, spring tulips, an aerial shot of the property from 1999, and a portion of the koi pond.

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The gardens have drawn attention from the likes of Southern Living, being featured in the magazine’s pages several times.

Visitors and experts have speculated on the value of the abundant plantings, but Tedder is quick to remind people that plants were bought in small containers and for bargain prices. “I did the gardens like a poor person and not like a rich person,” she stated.

Tedder said she seeks to garden God’s way – without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and with minimal watering. “The earth has existed a long time without chemicals,” she noted.

Tedder does a lot of planning when she is putting a new garden area into place. She uses hoses to create soft, undulating boundaries.

“Most all of it is planned,” she said.

“I’m a planner.”

Occasionally, something comes up volunteer in a spot where it seems to belong. A bed of blue scilla is an example.

Tedder acknowledged she has made some mistakes. She planted crepe myrtles too close to each other along the railroad track that runs in front of the home. Some trees have also surprised her with the breadth of their branches’ span.

Admiring one of the gardens with her husband, Tedder remarked, “It’s a work of love and patience.”

George Tedder teasingly added one more word: “obsession.”

Liz Tedder paused for a moment and – with a musical laugh – clarified: “magnificent obsession.”

NCM At Oak Grove are, clockwise from top left, daffodils, the sunken garden, a sundial near some raised beds, an arbor near the house, and gardener Liz Tedder along one of her home’s picturesque pathways.

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Ponds and tiered barrels are a great way to introduce a water feature into your garden. My barrels have been a place where my grandchildren love to put their tiny hands out to catch the water flowing from barrel to barrel.”

— Ruth Schroeder

Elaine Ruth Endicott

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My

Patchwork

By Ruth Simpson Schroeder | Photos by Bob Fraley he garden architecture I have gathered over the years has come from junk stores or even from the home of a friend who was throwing out an item for trash pick-up. Some pieces are made of wood, others of pottery. Iron railings and gates were great finds, and most were just found on the side of the road.

I would often embarrass my daughter by seeing something on the side of the road, backing up and putting it in the car. “Mother, really,” she would say, and roll her eyes at me. She just didn’t understand the importance of gardening and how you can use certain items.

It often reminds me of putting together a patchwork quilt with all the different shapes and sizes. You start your quilt with a corner square, and then you add the different shapes by overlapping and arranging your pieces.

Like a quilt, you want the corner of your garden to hold a special piece that you have found. You start by clearing your spot, then decide where you want the object you have in mind to stand.

It helps to put this all down on paper first so you can place flowers where they will best show off your piece.

Then the work begins. Instead of using a needle and thread to place your pieces, you use a shovel and garden tools to move the earth around so the main object will have a dominant place. It may be a statuette or just a garden rabbit that you want to emphasize, but whatever it is, your patchwork has begun.

Finding these special pieces takes a lot of time and imagination, just as it would if you were selecting your fabric out of a box of throwaway remnants. I enjoy finding bird bath pedestals that are very different. Then I select a color theme for my large pots that will sit on them. It you have a shade garden like mine, the pots have to be watered only once a day. I have them scattered around my garden, and in the summer the plants are overflowing with a hardy but gentle appearance.

Shade-loving plants and statuary line a wooden pathway along Ruth Schroeder’s woodland gardens.

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The sights at the Schroeder garden this spring include, clockwise from top left, a welcoming garden gate, a blooming maple tree, colorful glass mushrooms, a wishing well amidst a sea of ivy, bird statuary, an azalea about to bloom, an outhouse-turnedpotting shed, and a floral lady accent serenely watching over the gardens from her perch on a tree.

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Another piece of architecture you can create is wood fencing combined with a wrought iron gate, perhaps one you have found on one of your excursions. Birdfeeders and birdhouses are a wonderful way of expressing outside architecture also.

Arbors can become a picture window covered with yellow jasmine as you walk through into another section of your garden. Stone walls are fun to explore and have great possibilities. They can be very long with large rocks like the stone walls in my home state of Maine. My wall is low to the ground with separate sections. A stone bench can be placed nearby for you to sit and ponder your artwork.

Ponds and tiered barrels are a great way to introduce a water feature into your garden. My barrels have been a place where my grandchildren love to put their tiny hands out to catch the water flowing from barrel to barrel.

Imagine a greenhouse made out of old windows and doors becoming a focal point of architecture in your garden. I have seen many of these in my garden travels and wanted to take them home with me, but somehow they never made it. You could introduce window boxes along with old chairs that would hold flowers in their seats. Overflowing with beauty are trellises abundant with New Dawn roses. The fragrance of the rose is so sweet it seems to encompass you.

Now the quilt is taking shape, and your imagination is in full gear. Gazing balls were introduced in the 13th century, and in the Victorian era it was popular for ladies to gaze into them as they wandered through their gardens. This way they could make sure everything in the garden was in place.

Maybe a gazebo would make a nice place for a romantic dinner with that special someone. The fragrance from the garden where you have worked so hard seems to gently flow through the air.

I’ve seen potting sheds made out of old outhouses that are very quaint. They seem to take on a character themselves, and you become the talk of your garden friends. You can also make a large design out of garden tools and hang it on your shed. A small cupboard to hold tools is great to have nearby.

My patchwork garden has taken me some years to do, but it has been the highlight of my outside world.

Gardening is a challenge, as you want to move things often, just to see if it looks better somewhere else.

That’s what gardening is all about. It’s just a patchwork of beauty. Enjoy! NCM

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The Story by Angela McRae | Photos by Angela McRae and Bob Fraley

28 |

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ost Cowetans who want to see 6,000 azaleas have to drive to Callaway Gardens, but Joan Adcock simply walks outside her home.

There beneath the pines on her property in Newnan, Adcock’s stunning plant collection offers a feast for the senses, the sea of azaleas an amazing sight.

Nearly 25 years ago, Adcock was inspired to start growing azaleas by her uncle, Oliver Turner of Haralson, who gave her a few plants. She started with cultivated azaleas but soon turned her attention to native azaleas. She read azalea magazines, and she signed up for seminars with Fred Galle, longtime director of horticulture at Callaway Gardens. Adcock became passionate about the plants, and she would go to great lengths to get a new one.

She’s traveled when necessary to collect azaleas, hiking up mountains and crawling through wild growth, which was sometimes a problem for a woman frightened of snakes.

Once, she and her late husband Harry were on an azalea-chasing expedition when she spotted an unusual yellow specimen. “I was standing there jumping up and down,” she recalled with a laugh, but Harry was afraid she’d come across a snake.

As her collection grew, Adcock began to get a little self-conscious about the size of it. Around the time she had 3,000 azaleas, she told Harry that perhaps she should tell people the plants numbered only 2,000.

“You think they’re going to believe you’ve got 2,000?” Harry joked.

Joan Adcock in her azalea garden

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Adcock says there have been naysayers who think she couldn’t possibly have 6,000 plants, but she started keeping a log long about number 300 so she would always know the count. “I wanted to know exactly,” she said.

Several years ago she lost 600 of the plants in a fire. She’d been staining some furniture in a shed on her property, and investigators later told her the fire was probably a case of automatic combustion.

She told them “there’s a chance (the azaleas) will come back,” and almost all of them did. Adcock likes the fact azaleas are hardy and not delicate at all.

They may not be delicate but they certainly look it. The color variations are sometimes so subtle Adcock is challenged to find new names for the colors, which she has

described as coming from “God’s paintbrush.”

There are white ones, pink ones, yellow ones, peach ones, red ones, orange ones, and many that are blends of two or more colors. One blend, for instance, is a bright medium orange azalea that has a splotch of gold on just one petal.

Some are shrimp colored while others are more of a salmon color.

Sometimes, Adcock gives them names like ‘Pink Pearl’ or ‘Yellow Lace.’

Although Adcock says the azaleas are just a hobby, she has on occasion shared her gardens with visitors, including garden groups. At one time she sold a few plants through the Market Bulletin, taking care to place orange tags on her “special” plants that were not for sale. One time a man came to her garden and tried to

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talk her into selling one of these special plants. She told him it wasn’t for sale. The man kept offering her more and more money until finally he got to $250 and realized she wasn’t changing her mind.

Azaleas, which belong to the rhododendron family, can be propagated from cuttings or from seed, and Adcock has grown them both ways. In fact, “I could give seeds to everybody in the world, I think,” she says.

Plants may also be formed by stolons, horizontal stems or runners that take root at certain points and form new plants.

One day, a man from the Alabama Native Plant Society was visiting her garden and asked Adcock if she had any of these “stolon” plants. “I’ve got a few,” she told him.

A friend was with her that day

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and later asked, “Why did you tell him you’ve got some stolen plants?�

Adcock draws the line there and collects azaleas from other sites only by permission.

Last year her azaleas were featured in The Azalean magazine published by the Azalea Society of America.

Ken Gohring wrote, “The Adcock garden, in full bloom, rivals any garden in diversity of color and bloom quality. The garden has an unusually large collection of natives that is probably the largest private collection in the Southeast, if not the entire country.�

And that wasn’t the first time Adcock’s azaleas have been so prominently featured. A photo of her gardens appears in L. Clarence Towe’s book American Azaleas.

Yet she continues to describe herself as a hobbyist and notes that

true “flower people� can identify the different plants from the hairy buds and leaves.

Adcock’s own method of identifying plants is much simpler. “If I’m in the woods and one’s pretty, I’m going to get it,� she says.

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Potting up hanging baskets for downtown Newnan are Driftwood Garden Club members, from left, Lynn McEachern, Edie Eldridge, Paige Sport, Jane Morgan Bass and Sara Arnall.

in Public

By Elizabeth Richardson | Photos by Bob Fraley and Driftwood Garden Club

lowers can communicate a variety of messages.

The corsage at prom, the bouquet at a wedding, an arrangement at a funeral – flowers are present in the best and worst of times.

Decorators and landscapers 32 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

understand this concept and know that a spot of color in a sea of gray – creating art with elements of the outdoors – can be uplifting to the spirit. Taking pride in your city, subdivision or shopping center can mean creating a welcoming feeling that brings people back.

Sara Arnall is in her second year as president of the Driftwood Garden Club.

The local chapter is part of state and national garden clubs and is limited to 35 members at a time.

They were formed in 1959 with the purpose of “enhancing the learning

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Driftwood’s finished baskets await transport at Coweta Greenhouses.

and love of flowers and gardening, and to aide in protection of trees and plants,” according to Arnall.

The club is known for its civic projects in downtown Newnan, including planting the hanging baskets that enhance the city’s historic charm. Club members donate their time and labor to plant the baskets at Coweta Greenhouses, and the city foots the bill. The baskets are expected to go up in May. In the past, they were responsible for planting the annual flowerbeds at the Veteran’s Plaza on Temple Avenue. Drought and monetary restrictions led the city’s Beautification Department to plant Knock Out Roses instead, because they are perennial.

Driftwood now plans to plant flowerbeds at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts on Lower Fayetteville Road. The project is on

hold while the club raises money for a sprinkler system.

“We want to make this a better place to live – to make it enjoyable,” said Arnall. “We believe the beautification of Newnan can enhance everything – us, the businesses downtown and people’s perception of us.”

Arnall said the Driftwood Garden Club is rare because they are a very “young” garden club, meaning the members are younger than usual.

In fact, she was not initially interested in joining, though her grandmother – who continues to be a member at age 92 – gently persisted.

Arnall says she was one of the first younger members.

“We are talented in floral design and gardening,” she said. “We’re not all gardeners though. We have creative, artistic people who use flowers as their medium.”

Arnall says the members all share an underlying connection to nature.

“We need to be connected to the earth,” said Arnall. “It’s about

“We want to make this a better place to live – to make it enjoyable ...”

— Sara Arnall knowing where our food comes from.

Also, most of art and arranging is inspired by the outdoors.

“It’s an old-fashioned art that we feel like we should preserve,” she said.

The club meets the second MAY/JUNE 2010 | 33

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Colorful spring flowers are in bloom at Newnan’s Ashley Park.

“We want different kinds of flowers. Anybody can have pansies. If the flowers have to be pansies, we want green pansies before anyone else gets them.”

— Lee Batups, facilities manager for Thomas Enterprises 34 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

Wednesday of every month. There are many garden clubs in the county.

Visit the Garden Club of Georgia online to find your local garden clubs.

Equally appreciative of the art of floral design is Lee Batups, the facilities manager for Thomas Enterprises, who oversees landscaping at Ashley Park.

Year-round, visitors are awestruck by the immaculately groomed shopping center. It’s not unusual to see parents capturing prom photos with a fountain as the backdrop, or people enjoying an evening stroll on the property.

“This is the standard that Stan Thomas has for all of the properties he develops,” said Batups. “This is not just a place where people come and shop. People come and hang out.

They read their books and drink their coffee by the fountain. Stan lives in this community – he wants

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to make sure his shopping center is a part of it.”

Two companies are responsible for the landscaping and overall look of Ashley Park. One is responsible for general maintenance and the other, the flowers. A staff of approximately 15 people keeps the property up to par.

The overall landscaping and flowers are on a seasonal rotation in the spring, summer and fall, said Batups. Day porters keep the common areas on the property clean and safe. A landscaping company comes out once a week to maintain and prune the flowers, trim the bushes and pull the weeds.

Before the grunt work can take place, a team of people put thought and planning into the atmosphere they want to create. Batups said they particularly pride themselves on being different from the pack.

“We want different kinds of flowers,” said Batups. “Anybody can have pansies. If the flowers have to be pansies, we want green pansies before anyone else gets them.”

They are also charged with making sure the flowers aren’t harmful – i.e. poisonous or prickly – since kids frequent the property.

Ashley Park also features props like benches, wire art and sculptures to complete the look.

“Ashley Park speaks for itself,” said Batups. “Stan owns a farm and is an advocate of greenspace. We’re going to make sure as a part of the community that we maintain a good shopping center for tenants and customers.”

Batups says the shopping center will continue to evolve depending on what works best. He hopes their flowers will remain a welcoming backdrop for life in Coweta County. NCM

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Local Heritage }

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By W. Winston Skinner

he story brings them.”

Jennifer Bigham, who has spent a decade restoring and refurbishing Dunaway Gardens, did not have to think for even a second to explain why visitors find their way to the unique rock gardens near Roscoe.

The fanciful rock work and plantings – old and new – invite visitors to leave behind mundane worries and soak up the beauty and tranquility that abounds.

Dunaway Gardens’ story starts in 1916 when Wayne P. Sewell married 36 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

Hetty Jane Dunaway. Sewell came from a pioneer Coweta family, and he brought his bride to the family farm near Roscoe. She hated it.

Mrs. Sewell was a noted elocutionist and performer on the Chautauqua circuit, and the bucolic charms of the farm held little allure for her. Then her husband said she could transform the place, and the idea for Dunaway Gardens was born.

Mrs. Sewell began to plan paths, gardens, pools, an amphitheater.

Hetty Jane Sewell’s love of drama led to visits by various performers, and Wayne Sewell had a home talent

theater company that trained at the gardens each summer in the 1930s.

One of Sewell’s coaches, Ophelia Colley, later found fame as Minnie Pearl on the Grand Ole Opry.

There was an “official” grand opening in 1934, but the gardens had already been a popular spot for several years. The project continued to grow and evolve until the deaths of Wayne and Hetty Jane Sewell.

Though the gardens were cleared periodically – and there were several efforts at preservation and redevelopment – by the end of the 20th century, Dunaway Gardens had

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Archival photos from Dunaway Gardens show beds of irises and daffodils, opposite, and a Southern belle posing in front of the gardensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; historic Blue Bonnet Tearoom. The ancestral cottage which housed the tearoom was flanked by two Pink Patios, one on each side, and massive white oaks said to be hundreds of years old.

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Historic images from Dunaway Gardens include this photo of a pretty lass at the rock gardens and, inset, the outdoor theatre terraced to seat 1,000 people.

The yew at the Japanese Garden has drawn attention from horticultural experts. “She planted that. That thing’s probably 90 years old now,” Bigham said.

A few weeks ago, a huge azalea planted by Hetty Jane Sewell was in bloom once more. “It’s gigantic,” Bryant said.

Bigham has heard stories about times when people were invited to help themselves to Dunaway’s horticultural treasures.

More certain is that people sometimes purloined plants during the years 2000. There become little the gardens were was little more than an not maintained. remaining overgrown The plants from Hetty memory. left from Mrs. Sewell’s day Jennifer Sewell’s day, beyond the Bigham Bigham said, are basic network of discovered the likely to be large – paths. spot while on her “so big you couldn’t The Blue Bonnet way to Lake Wayne P. Hetty Jane Sewell Dunaway dig it up.”

Tearoom and Big Windy, Wedowee with her While the rock walls Mrs. Sewell’s beloved home, were in husband, Roger. “I peeked look much like they did when Hetty ruin. Bigham rescued some pieces of in here in the spring of 2000,” she Jane Sewell was alive, Bigham and wood – painted green and pink – said.

Bryant say almost all of them have from Big Windy.

She began exploring the acreage Josh Bryant, Bigham’s son, said he undergone major repair. Bigham and found Mrs. Sewell’s vision recalled that when she took over the thinks less than 10 percent of the beneath vines and brush. “There property, there would be a stretch of plantings in the gardens were put were spiderwebs and snakes intact wall, then a crumbled portion there by Mrs. Sewell. “There are everywhere,” she remembered. historic trees. Some of them have been – “you could find the rock down Bigham fell in love with the below it” – and then another section around 100-200 years,” Bigham said. gardens, purchasing them in June 38 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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intact.

Bryant noted that the rock to repair the walls came from the property.

Visitors to Dunaway Gardens come to see the unusual plants, the picturesque vistas â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to absorb the placeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique ambience. Some find out about the gardens online, while others show up with a yellowed copy of an old newspaper article by Danny Flanders tucked under an arm.

Early on, Bigham realized the gardens were not attracting â&#x20AC;&#x153;as many on-foot visitors as we had hoped.â&#x20AC;?

Getting people to come is not a problem, however, now that Dunaway Gardens has become a popular location for weddings.

About 60 couples a year tie the knot at Dunaway. Since the wedding season is during western Georgiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s warm months, weddings often take place on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the spring, summer and early fall.

The trees, flowers and running water provide a backdrop at a dozen locations around the gardens where brides can envision their perfect day unfolding. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s romantic,â&#x20AC;? Bigham noted.

Dunaway has also been the location for corporate gatherings, high school proms and bridal showers.

Periodically, there are events for the public. Santa Claus visits at Christmas time. In July, there are plans for For Foodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sake, an event that will feature Kevin Gillespie, chef at a trendy Atlanta eatery, the Woodfire Grill.

Hetty Jane Sewellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with Jennifer Bighamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love and skill â&#x20AC;&#x201C; endures. Visitors â&#x20AC;&#x153;want a place to get away from it all,â&#x20AC;? Bigham observed, â&#x20AC;&#x153;a place where you can be peaceful and serene and enjoy being with nature.â&#x20AC;? NCM

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Thoughtful Gardener }

The Story and photos by Katherine McCall

Many times the fragrance would greet me as I unlocked the door, particularly in the summer when it was a solitary magnolia in one of her heavy, cut-glass vases. I lived with my grandmother the year before I married. Each evening after work, I would return home to find her ensconced in her sunroom with the last rays of the day slanting through the windows. She and her possessions were softly illuminated in the waning light: her old, heavy rotary dial phone by her chair, the bar (where I would fix her evening drink), my 40 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

grandfather’s books, her bowl of roasted pecans, the Braves blaring on the TV, and always the flowers – brightening the room with fresh life.

She had no garden but simply plucked at will from the trees in her condominium’s landscaping. The flower had its place on an old leather game table which oversaw the myriad activities of living: eating, playing games and cards, paying bills and writing letters. And although our relationship was stormy at times, I was reassured of her love by the presence and constancy of that

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An icon of the South, the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), sometimes called Bull Bay, is native from North Carolina to Florida to Texas, and is the state flower of Mississippi and Louisiana.

magnolia, because I knew each day she placed and arranged it for my enjoyment and pleasure.

The Magnoliaceae are evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs whose hallmark is the distinctive large petaled bloom which can span the color spectrum with flowers in white, pink, red, purple and yellow.

Magnolias are primeval. Fossilized specimens have been discovered from many, many years ago and interestingly, magnolias have always been pollinated not by bees but by beetles. The indigenous range of these MAY/JUNE 2010 | 41

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blooming trees is North, Central and South America, and China and Japan and the West Indies, thus separating the family into “American” and “Asian” groups.

In 1703, while observing the tree on the island of Martinique, botanist Charles Plumier named it after Pierre Magnol, a French botanist and administrator of the Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier from 1638 to 1715. (The Montpellier Botanic Gardens are still flourishing today and are the oldest botanic gardens in France, dating from 1593.) Magnol developed and is known for the idea that certain plants came from the same “family.” In 1735, when Carl Linnaeus published his Systema Naturae, he kept the name Magnolia for the American trees and designated the Asian trees Yulanias.

An icon of the South, the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia

grandiflora), sometimes called Bull Bay, is native from North Carolina to Florida to Texas, and is the state flower of Mississippi and Louisiana.

For many it is the definition of the South – a majestic, towering evergreen that can reach up to 100 feet in height. The striking contrast of its creamy white, saucer shaped blossoms with the glossy deep green leaves provide a beauty that is undeniably unique to the Southern landscape. The intensely fragrant flowers bloom from May until September and are followed by a brown woody fruit dotted with bright red seeds which birds love.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both planted Magnolia grandiflora on their plantations, and it was heralded by French naturalist Francoise Andre Michaux as “... one of the most beautiful productions of the vegetable kingdom.” In the

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antebellum South, the magnolia was planted in â&#x20AC;&#x153;gardens and grovesâ&#x20AC;? and sometimes as an allee. Two well known examples are the magnolia allee at the Augusta National Golf Club and across the Savannah River, in South Carolina, at Redcliffe Plantation. Redcliffe is an imposing Greek revival plantation home with large Doric columns and was finished in 1859 for James Henry Hammond.

A South Carolina governor and U.S. Senator, Hammond is known for coining the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cotton is Kingâ&#x20AC;? in an impassioned speech preceding the Civil War. Redcliffe is situated on a stunning site above the river providing sweeping views of the surrounding area. Approaching the home is a stately avenue of magnolias that has witnessed 145 years of history.

In our modern landscape, the magnolia is best used as a specimen or shade tree, as a buffer strip or

trained as an espalier. The Southern Living Garden Book lists some 53 different choices and recommends some for our smaller yards such as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Brackenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brown Beauty,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Symmes Selectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Little Gem.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Carefully select your site because once the trunk is larger than 4 inches, the tree will not take well to being moved. Choose an area that has enough room for its mature size and receives full sun or partial shade.

The magnolia prefers rich, well drained soil, and amending with organic material at planting time will get the tree off to a good start. The shiny leaves with their brown undersides are attractive in arrangements, wreaths and garlands.

Although short lived as a cutting flower, the blooms can quickly fill a room with their fragrance, reminiscent of my grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sunroom. NCM

WEB EXTRA: The Thoughtful Gardener Plant Index { The

} Thoughtful Gardener

Plant Index

Magnolia

Magnolia, Bull Bay Common name: Southern grandiflora Botanical name: Magnolia

towering everto Texas. A majestic Carolina to Florida have brown is native from North deep green leaves l shape. Its glossy of the South, the magnolia usually having a pyramida Description: An icon and garlands. up to 100 feet in height, green, it can reach in arrangements, wreaths These are that are attractive shaped blossoms. suede undersides very fragrant, saucer large creamy white, boasts it summer, and into Blooms: During spring with bright red seeds. as woody fruit dotted buffer strip or trained followed by a brown or shade tree, as a for our smaller yards, used as a specimen recommends some the magnolia is best e, and landscap choices modern once the trunk is lists some 53 different Cultivation: In our your site because size Living Garden Book Gem.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Carefully select room for its mature an espalier. The Southern Beauty,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Symmes Selectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Little at area that has enough Brown moved. Choose an with organic material such as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Brackenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soil, and amending not take well to being will drained tree well the rich, magnolia prefers larger than 4 inches, or partial shade. The start. and receives full sun the tree off to a good and garlands. planting time will get arrangements, wreaths es are attractive in fragrance. their brown undersid fill a room with their shiny leaves with Special notes: The the blooms can quickly flower, cutting a as Although short lived

Go to newnancowetamagazine.com to download your next garden journal page, Magnolia.

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Coweta opens its garden gates

By Meredith Leigh Knight | Photos courtesy of Steve Rydzewski

Gardeners paint pictures with plants, and you’ll have ample opportunity to view their portraits around Coweta County this season. No matter whether you are a wannabe gardener, a gardener looking for inspiration, or perhaps just someone looking for a way to reconnect with other gardeners, choices abound. A highlight will be the Spring Garden Gate Tour sponsored by the Coweta County Master Gardener (CCMG) Association.

This year’s tour will feature five of Coweta’s finest gardens sure to delight the senses and turn anyone’s thumb green.

Guests will be treated to a variety of hidden surprises, including a wooded cottage garden filled with azaleas, a suburban backyard retreat that makes you feel you’re in the mountains, the eye-popping red leaves of an artfully-placed Japanese maple, and a gazebo full of birdhouses.

Proceeds from the Garden Gate Tour help support the CCMG Association. The association promotes local University of Georgia Extension Service projects such as 4H, Junior Master Gardeners and the operation of an educational greenhouse. The group also supports the Master Gardener Scholarship fund for Coweta County high school seniors who wish to pursue a career in horticulture, agriculture, environmental science or a related subject.

The don’t-miss tour is scheduled for May 22 and includes lunch catered by Making Memories Catering. Ticket prices are $20, including lunch. Tour time is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch served at Country Gardens in Newnan from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call the Coweta County Extension Office at 770-254-2620.

On the Garden Gate Tour are, from top, the gardens at 97 Williams Circle, Sharpsburg; 3405 Happy Valley Circle, Newnan; and 25 Camellia Circle, Newnan.

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Once you’ve seen it, you’ll want to plant it all – if only you knew where to start. The Backyard Association gives you the opportunity to take your questions to the experts.

Sponsored by the Coweta County Master Gardeners, the Backyard Association provides free gardening sessions for the general public the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. Recent meetings have featured such topics as orchids, rare plants and garden design.

The sessions last approximately one hour, and Master Gardeners are available before and after the session to help with gardening questions.

Call 770-254-2620 to inquire about upcoming programs or to register for door prizes.

Market Days

Polly Stowe, left, and Margo Curtis buy fresh veggies from Beckie Matthews.

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For those who love produce, get it fresh at the Surplus Vegetable Market.

The Vegetable Market’s grand opening this year will be Saturday, June 5, 2010 at the Asa Powell Sr. Expo Center on Temple Avenue.

You’ll be surprised at the variety that’s available. If you are interested in selling your surplus vegetables or need more information, call the Extension office at 770-254-2620.

Main Street Newnan’s Market Days, held the first Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., provide another fantastic venue for horticulture and more.

Shoppers can discover some of the best homegrown, handmade and homemade products this side of Atlanta and stroll through historic downtown Newnan’s courthouse square at the same time. The homemade and homegrown favorites include everything from homemade Brunswick stew to homemade peach ice cream, scuppernongs and homemade pepper jelly. For more information, call Main Street Newnan at 770-253-8283. NCM

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“Please contact me directly and it would be my pleasure to treat you to lunch and provide you with a personal tour,” says Brenda Mitchell, Executive Director.

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The wonderful journey of

Nathaniel Woodson

By Alex McRae | Photos by Bob Fraley

Members of The Drifters at one time included, clockwise from left, Robert Wiggins, Elsbeary Hobbs, Nathaniel Woodson and Charlie Thomas.

athaniel Woodson always knew he was destined to make a joyful noise. But he never dreamed his vocal gifts would land him “On Broadway” or take him “Under the Boardwalk” and “Up on the Roof ” as a member of legendary musical group The Drifters.

“It’s been a wonderful journey,” says Woodson, who now calls Newnan home. “It’s amazing how 46 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

God works things out in our lives.”

Woodson grew up in Akron, Ohio, and says the family record player rarely got a rest. If he wasn’t harmonizing with gospel greats like James Cleveland, Woodson sang along with artists like the Commodores and Earth, Wind and Fire.

While attending a Youth for Christ event at age 10, Woodson confirmed his life’s calling.

“I just knew I had to be a

singer,” he says. “When you know that you have to do it, there is no ‘No, you can’t.’”

Woodson joined the church choir and performed in every school production that came along. He pursued his musical plans at Akron University for a year before transferring to Temple University in Philadelphia.

After his mother’s death in 1986, Woodson abandoned school and headed to New York, determined to

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I just knew I had to be a singer. When you know that you have to do it, there is no ‘No, you can’t.’”

— Nathaniel Woodson

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Nathaniel and Denine Woodson have called Newnan home since 2003.

A job opportunity in Atlanta led Nathaniel Woodson to Newnan. Formerly a member of The Drifters, Woodson is considering a professional musical comeback.

48 |

make it or break it in music’s most competitive market.

In 1989, Woodson responded to an audition for an established singing group.

When he arrived, he found out the group was The Drifters, who had been cranking out hit songs since the mid-1950s.

Woodson won the job and hit the road as part of what he soon discovered was one of the world’s most beloved groups.

“I had always admired The Drifters, but when I saw the crowd reaction I realized I was part of something much bigger than me,” Woodson says. “It was a wonderful experience.”

During a tour stop in Akron, a pastor friend asked Woodson to sing in an Easter play. He did, and was surprised when a young woman named Denine Starks asked him out. Woodson didn’t know Denine was the pastor’s niece, but had a feeling something was up.

“I thought it might be a setup,” he says.

“But I didn’t care. I knew I was called to be a husband and father and this wonderful, beautiful lady was the one for me.”

Nathaniel and Denine married in 1994 and settled in New York. In 1996, their lives were changed forever when their first child, Jonathan, was stillborn.

“That was a tragic, difficult time,” Woodson says. “But I still knew God had a plan for us.” Woodson also knew something else.

“I realized I couldn’t be on the road any more,” he says. “My wife and family had to be my first priority.”

Woodson quit The Drifters and took a management position with a major car rental company. Nathaniel Jr. came along in 1997 and daughter Elizabeth joined the party in 2002. Family life was wonderful, but post 9-11 New York was fearful and chaotic and the Woodsons knew they needed to leave. Their prayers for guidance were answered when a new career opportunity in the auto rental business arose in the Atlanta area.

“We didn’t know anyone down here,” Woodson says. “But we knew if God was leading us we couldn’t go wrong.”

The Woodsons moved to Newnan in 2003 and during their search for a church home made an unscheduled stop at Newnan’s Sonrise

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Baptist Church.

Woodson was amused when the family was greeted at the curb by a man dressed all in black and wearing a cowboy hat.

“I remember thinking ‘Well, this is different,’” Woodson says. “But the guy was friendly and really made us feel at home.”

Minutes later Woodson was stunned to realize the man in black was Don Helms, then serving as the church’s pastor.

The family soon joined Sonrise and Woodson became active in the music program. He didn’t tell anyone but the choir director about his musical past, but rumors began to surface and Woodson decided to come clean before singing at a church dinner theater program.

He told everyone about his Drifters connection and then sang “Under the Boardwalk.” The crowd loved it and Woodson encored with “Unchained Melody.” He was gratified by the warm response, but had misgivings.

“I had toured a lot and seen how people react and I didn’t want that,” he says. “I wanted a Christ-centered relationship and that’s how I wanted people to relate to me. I wanted to be Nathaniel, not Nathaniel of The Drifters.”

He found that acceptance and says he and the family have discovered a whole new life in Newnan.

“It’s been amazing down here,” Woodson says. “We’ve never been more blessed.”

After more than a decade out of the commercial spotlight, Woodson is even thinking about a professional music comeback.

“I’m waiting for God’s guidance,” he says. “But whatever happens, from here on, it’s not about me, it’s about Christ.” NCM MAY/JUNE 2010 | 49

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Tina’s Tips }

{

Blooming with Creativity

By Tina Neely | Photos by Bob Fraley They are popping up everywhere like fresh spring flowers – super cute and sassy kids’ clothes! I have twin girls who are like my own personal baby dolls that I can dress to the nines. To give them clothes with more personality, I have started to make them myself—along with help from my Mom and my sweet neighbors.

I’ll bet if you tried, you could make a cute outfit yourself. My creative friends have come up with some precious outfits they want to share. So drag out that sewing machine, fabric and pattern you’ve been meaning to try and come play with us!

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ANDRA AND CHLOE FARILL Sassy britches with super cute ruffles? Chloe, age 6, sure knows how to model them! Chloe’s outfit is a little bohemian and uses three different fabrics. The damask and floral fabric patterns are in pink, green and hot pink. Andra modified a pants pattern she had for the bottoms. For the top she used a pattern from Pink Fig, a company that makes “home grown patterns” created by moms and sold through their small business.

Andra, who taught herself to sew, said this was the first time she had used elastic thread to create gathered areas. She was nervous but found it really easy. Her tip for using elastic thread is to handwind your bobbin or else it will be too tight when you sew. Also, play with the tension on your machine and practice with scrap fabric to get it where you want it, stretch-wise. When washing, air dry an outfit if you’ve used elastic thread.

They have a tendency to shrink in the dryer.

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BLAKE, GRACE, BRADLEY AND HENRY SMITH Taught to sew by her 81-year-old grandmother when she was 18, Blake has become a pro.

Now she sews everything from draperies to bedding, pillows and anything home related. Her love for sewing shows in her children’s precious outfits. She found a pattern for Grace, 8, and was able to use it to coordinate an outfit for Bradley, 5, but added some different touches that did not make it look so “big girl.”

Henry, 2, is wearing a pattern for capri pants and Bermuda shorts which can be used for girls and boys with different variations.

For fabric, Blake starts by looking in her fabric containers. She had the paisley cotton print from a time four years ago when she saw it, bought it and didn’t know what to do with it.

It worked great for Grace with black pique but the print was too much for Bradley, so she chose to use it in smaller doses with a lime green pique being the bulk of the design.

Henry’s fabric was a coordinating blue pique perfect for his shorts.

BETH, KAYLA AND JESSICA HARRIS Coming from a family with two sisters and having three daughters of her own, Beth has got the girly-girl ideas down pat with precious outfits and handmade bows and flip flops to match. For the outfit for Kayla, 8, she used an A-line top pattern and a boutique ruffled pants/capris pattern downloaded online. For Jessie, 5, the outfit is a variation of a pillowcase pattern and the boutique ruffled pants/capris. The pillowcase pattern was a freebie from about two years ago that she just keeps changing a bit.

Both outfits are made of fabric from local craft and discount stores. Beth says you can take simple fabrics and make some crazy and fun combinations.

If you’ve just started sewing, Beth suggests using the pillowcase pattern. After you have it down pat, start adding things you think will be cute, just be sure to jot down notes for next time. And look for free downloadable patterns. They are very detailed and easy to follow. You just download and print.

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RACHEL, ROBIN FRANCES AND CAROLINE RICE Rachel made her precious girls some lovely dresses and made herself a top too! For the girls’ dresses, she chose two different styles with similar fabrics. Rachel purposely does not make the same dress for her girls so that her youngest doesn’t have to wear it two times. Instead, she makes two coordinating dresses. Robin Frances, 5, loves to wear “twirly dresses,” so Rachel chose an empire waist pattern and added cute flower buttons.

Because Caroline, 3, likes to have something to put her hands in (or small toys or leftover food), Rachel added pockets in a contrasting print. Her own top was made of Amy Butler prints using an Amy Butler pattern. Rachel says she’s tried to sew clothing for herself in the past, but this was the only time it turned out to be something she’d actually wear. She found the instructions detailed and easy to follow.

MARY BETH MUZIO AND HARPER ELLIS AGEE Not only is she a great school teacher and super talented lady, but Mary Beth Muzio is also the best “Aunt B” in the world, as her niece Harper, 2-1/2, will tell you! For Harper, Mary Beth likes to make her own patterns. She takes a dress that fits her niece well, then traces it and modifies the pattern to whatever style she’s making.

Basically, Mary Beth and her sister find pictures of outfits they like from catalogs or online and she recreates them.

Harper’s dress is a green and white striped seersucker A-line jumper. Mary Beth added a pink flamingo appliqué and coordinating seersucker and pink ruffles at the bottom. Pink rickrack trims the straps, since Mary Beth often uses rickrack or ruffles and ribbon to vary the dresses.

52 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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278 21130 L 36 A , e Hwy. 431 s Wedowe 045

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s .EW 5SED "OATS s +AYAKS s 7ET 3LIPS AND $RY 3TORAGE s &ULL 3ERVICE -ARINA AND 3ERVICE #ENTER w w w. w e d o w e e m a r i n e . c o m TINA, HANNAH, ELIZABETH AND JACKSON NEELY Since I am a beginner, for outfits for my twin girls, age 7, I chose fabrics in coordinating patterns of a floral, polka dot and wavy stripe. The top has above-the-waist elasticized contrast casing that matches their ruffled pants. The pants have an elastic waist band which allows for growth. These outfits were made a size bigger than the girls now wear so they can enjoy them again next summer as capris.

My sweet neighbor, Ann, helped me get this project done in time. I think we’ll use some of the leftover fabric for matching headbands, or try a great suggestion from Beth: make a monogrammed covered button you can put on a bow to match. And for sure we’ll need a matching outfit for their American Girl dolls – now that would be cute! NCM

To see more photos of the children’s clothes and tips for making them, visit our link at newnancowetamagazine.com.

Making Milestones

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Saddle UP }

Teaching Teamwork at Meadow Wood Farm

By Martha A. Woodham | Photos by Bob Fraley alk into the large, airy barn at Meadow Wood Farm, and you are greeted by what seems to be a herd of Jack Russell terriers – bouncing, barking, delirious with 54 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

excitement.

The rough-coated dogs – each cuter than the last – are just one of owner Suzanne Jones’ enthusiasms.

The other is horses, a passion she has indulged since she was a little girl

growing up in northern California. It wasn’t always easy. Her family wasn’t horsey and – as eager as a Jack Russell – she was keen to do anything that involved equines.

“My parents thought I would outgrow it,” she remembers. “But I didn’t.”

As a 14-year-old, Jones saved her babysitting money to buy her first

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Suzanne Jones, above, has the pleasure of working with her daughter, Brittany Jones Sommers, opposite, at Meadow Wood Farm.

horse and cleaned stalls to pay for his board. When she was older, she worked as a trail guide at Lake Tahoe. Her hard work paid off as she learned not only how to ride, but also how to take care of the horses she was so passionate about. She primarily rode Western, often competing in barrel racing and carrying the colors at rodeos.

But all that changed when Jones moved to Georgia, where the barn closest to her home focused on the English disciplines of hunter-jumper and eventing. Soon, instead of racing around barrels, Jones found herself leaping over them.

When her daughter was born, Jones made sure that Brittany had the ponies she had dreamed of as a

little girl. By age 3, Brittany was riding a one-eyed Shetland pony named Blackie, the first of what would become a long line of equines that would eventually take her to some top-rated shows.

In the late 1980s, Jones was a boarder at Meadow Wood Farm on Hwy. 54. Surrounded by pastures, the big white barn on the hill is a MAY/JUNE 2010 | 55

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Brittany Sommers missed horses so much she left her teaching job in Atlanta to come back to Sharpsburg and work with her mother, Suzanne Jones, at Meadow Wood Farm.

Coweta landmark. When the opportunity arose to purchase the 26-acre farm, Jones retired from her job as a pre-school teacher and went into the horse business.

Although her days were filled with teaching riding and managing the 20-stall barn, Jones still found time to compete in combined training, a combination of dressage 56 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

and jumping tests for horse and rider.

Jones and her ThoroughbredPercheron mare, On the Flipside, aka “Flip,” progressed upward through the levels to reach Preliminary before Jones decided to concentrate on dressage.

“Flip didn’t like [jumping] ditches,” she says, laughing. Today, trail riding is her passion, and she is

passing along the family horse business to her daughter, Brittany Jones Sommers.

Like her mother, Sommers loved riding and showing as a child and teenager. One of the high points of her show career was competing at the National Pony Finals. While a student at Georgia Southern University, she was high point rider

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on the school equestrian team and competed across the Southeast.

Despite Sommers’ success in the show ring and her love of horses, following in her mother’s footsteps as a riding instructor wasn’t a sure thing.

“Growing up, I used to think, ‘I never want to teach riding,’” Sommers says. “It’s too timeconsuming, with so much responsibility. You are never away from it. And you have a lot of critters to take care of.”

After graduation from college, Sommers dedicated herself to the classroom. She spent two years as a second-grade teacher before she had a change of heart. Her passion for horses, like her mother’s, was just too strong. She asked Jones if she could come home and be part of Meadow Wood Farm.

“Teaching school in Atlanta, I missed riding so much,” Sommers says. “Now I can teach the kids and be with horses.”

Gradually Jones has turned over more of the day-to-day operation of Meadow Wood, which includes boarding horses, to her daughter. Sommers shares the teaching duties with trainer Nancy Greene, who grew up showing hunters in Virginia and Pennsylvania. For the past 10 years, she has been an integral part of the Meadow Wood team.

Meadow Wood specializes in the hunterjumper style of riding with the emphasis on familyoriented fun, says Sommers. Often parents end up taking lessons like their children.

Students learn at their first lesson how to groom and tack up their horses. “It’s important for kids to learn about taking care of their ponies, not just about hopping on and riding,” says Sommers.

Meadow Wood riders have the opportunity to compete at monthly shows throughout the year, but if a child doesn’t want to show or jump, he or she doesn’t have to. The surprising thing, agree Jones and Sommers, is that many kids who swear they will never jump become the most adventurous riders.

Horses can make a difference in a child’s life, says mother. “Horses teach children patience and independence.”

“Horses teach self-confidence and self-esteem,” adds daughter.

Horses teach teamwork, too.

For more information about Meadow Wood Farm, visit www.meadowwoodfarm.net. NCM

he depends on you.

At Southern Crescent Equine, we know how important your horse is to you. From lameness evaluations to reproduction and emergency services, you can count on us to provide quality care for your horse’s total health.

you can depend on us. general practice • lameness reproduction • emergency Dr. Jason McLendon, DVM Dr. Matthew Reynolds, DVM AAEP & AVMA Members 608 Hwy 29, Newnan, GA 30263 770.252.6860 fx 770.262.6861 southerncrescent@numail.org

Community.

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Bob Mason Newnan Rotary Club

Rotary is 1.2 million ordinary men and women working together to accomplish extraordinary things. Thanks to them, 15,000 gather each year as family to celebrate the 4th of July and freedom.

Businessmen and women share with middle school students information about career choices.

Learn more at rotary.org.

Rotary.

Humanity in motion.

MAY/JUNE 2010 | 57

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Baby Files }

Lilly and Bennett Barnard

On fantasies and perfect mothers

By Carolyn Barnard | Photo by Lindsey Turner recently made my first attempt at taking both of my babies out by myself. Bennett was born in late January, so I had given myself plenty of time before trying to get out. I knew it was going to be a challenge but we were all stir-crazy so I was willing to brave it. My friends had been raving about the free storytimes at a local bookstore, and I thought it would be a perfect place to take them. I could leave Bennett in his car seat sleeping and focus on Lilly.

In my fantasy, Lilly and I were laughing together, sharing a moment, while the other moms looked on in awe. “How is she able to look so fabulous and carefree with two young, beautiful, perfect babies? She’s already lost all of her baby weight, too! Where does she get her hair done? Maybe she is a celebrity! She is so impressive!”

Proverbs tells us that pride comes 58 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

before the fall. Should have remembered that one.

In reality, this is what the scene looked like: My son was going through his inconsolable-crying days, so I had been holding him all morning trying to calm him down.

Since this clearly meant that I was unable to shower, I threw on what I call my maternity-man-pants, a button up shirt and a baseball hat – the combination of which, in retrospect, looked shockingly similar to a professional painter’s wardrobe. I think I brushed my teeth but there’s no guarantee.

I did take the time to dress Lilly up so at least one of us would look presentable. (I recently told someone it’s a dark moment when you realize you genuinely care nothing about your own appearance as long as your children look good. This must be how pageant mothers feel all the

time.) After packing my enormous diaper bag, I buckled the kids in the car determined to enjoy the morning.

Naturally, my son detests his car seat and screamed from the moment we pulled out of the driveway. Trying to ignore the ringing in my ears, I drove by and grabbed a latte. As soon as I left the drive-thru I realized my drink was wrong and had to turn around and get another one. The person working the window stared at me in horror as I was waiting because the screaming from the backseat was so blood-curdling. I was forced to awkwardly look around like I didn’t hear anything.

Screeching into the parking lot with only minutes until the reading began, I started the grueling process of unloading the car. I felt like I was preparing to take up residence at the book store. When I went to pull out the stroller, somehow the stupid snack

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tray came loose, flew up and busted my lip open! Standing there, stunned that I had just been attacked by a stroller, it occurred to me that this might not be the best idea.

Looking like a fat-lipped painter, I was simultaneously pushing Bennett, holding Lilly, trying to keep my latte/liquid gold from spilling onto the street and keeping my manpants from falling off as I walked in.

To say I looked pathetic is an understatement. And was anyone there to help hold the door? Of course not.

By the time I made it over to the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s section, panting and bleeding from the lip, I heard the woman announce â&#x20AC;&#x153;the last book of the dayâ&#x20AC;?! I almost screamed but decided I would leave that up to Bennett, who was back to full volume. Everyone in the group turned and stared at us so I knew I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t act like I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hear him anymore. By the time I had unstrapped him from the seat, Lilly had started pulling everything out of someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diaper bag and piling it up on the floor! (Looking for animal crackers, I would imagine.)

So there I was, one-handed, awkwardly holding my newborn while trying to stuff the contents of the strangerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diaper bag back where it belonged and keep Lilly from ripping pages out of the nearest books. Of course within moments of our arrival, storytime was over and I was loading back up. The minute the seatbelt clicked, Bennett was screaming again so I grabbed Lilly and made a run for the car. Everyone was giving me looks of pity as I struggled out.

Exhausted, humiliated and on the verge of a breakdown, I backed out of the parking lot and decided I was staying indoors for the next few years.

After all, Lilly wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t interested in the story anyway. NCM

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Cooks }

The 9-year-old family chef

By Meredith Leigh Knight | Photos by Bob Fraley

60 |

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hile many kids beg their parents for McDonaldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheeseburgers, nineyear-old Sarah Culbreth simply wants cheese â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 52 varieties if possible â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to make her own manicotti. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I told her it would be very costly to do that, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure that I can find that many cheeses,â&#x20AC;? said her mom, Staci, with a smile.

Undaunted, Sarah, a third-grade student at Arbor Springs, worked on perfecting her three-cheese dish, which she shares with readers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sarah has a natural interest in cooking and baking, so I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to encourage her to do it. She has collected quite a few cookbooks, and she loves to pick recipes out to try,â&#x20AC;? said Staci. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She loves trying new dishes at restaurants, and she loves trying new and exotic fruits at the grocery store.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cooking is in my blood,â&#x20AC;? said Sarah, who first showed an interest at age four by watching, then helping bake cookies with her mother and â&#x20AC;&#x153;MawMaw,â&#x20AC;? working her way up to cutting the vegetables and then choosing the meals with her motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guidance on the food groups. Today, Sarah plans meals, shops with her mom to pick out the ingredients and even grows many of her own vegetables. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This year she wants to plant herbs, carrots, lettuce, bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. She has been really looking at how to start her herb garden. Sarah loves Italian food, so she likes to try cooking with different pastas such as Piccolini,â&#x20AC;? said her mom.

When Sarah is not cooking, she likes to Irish dance and play piano as well as watch cooking shows on the Food Network and Cake Boss (on TLC). Her father, Bob Culbreth, and older sister, Hannah, enjoy her tasty dishes as well. Perhaps one of the best parts about having a nine-year-old chef in the house, however, is that playing with the bubbles in the sink while doing dishes is still considered fun!

Sarahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advice to kids who might want to try it? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cooking is great for both boys and girls. You should eat healthy though, because you could get fat or even die when you are in your thirties. My family likes to buy organic fruits and vegetables and brown eggs. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t eat beef. We buy skim milk and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t eat a lot of packaged food. One of the best things to do besides eating healthy is exercising. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be a computer potato and never be a couch potato. Salad is great for you, and you can get it fresh by planting a garden with fruit, veggies and herbs.â&#x20AC;?

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YELLOW CAKE RECIPE

THREE-CHEESE MANICOTTI 1 package of manicotti shells 3 cups marinara sauce 30 ounces (or 2 smaller containers) low fat Ricotta cheese 4 cups part-skim shredded Mozzarella cheese* 6 tablespoons Parmesan cheese* 2 eggs 2 teaspoons parsley 1/2 teaspoon black pepper *Reserve approximately 1 cup of Mozzarella for the top of the manicotti once the noodles are stuffed, and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook manicotti shells according to package directions. Drain. Spray

a 9x13x2-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk eggs and pepper. Combine Ricotta, 3 cups Mozzarella, 4 tablespoons Parmesan and parsley. Mix well.

2 cups cake flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 3 large eggs, room temperature 2 teaspoons vanilla 3/4 cup milk

Stuff the manicotti shells with the cheese mixture and place in the baking dish. Pour the sauce over the top of the stuffed manicotti. Cover with aluminum foil.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. In a bowl, use a whisk to combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Bake for about 35 minutes.

Uncover; top with remaining 1 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese melts.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix until completely combined. Slowly add flour alternately with milk. At the end of additions batter should be smooth.

Divide between two pans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a rack and cool completely before frosting. (For a 9x13 pan, bake at 350°F for 30-38 minutes.)

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

SARAH’S “BELL” SALAD

RANCH DRESSING

1/2 head Romaine lettuce 1/2 red bell pepper 1/2 yellow bell pepper 1/2 green bell pepper 1 cucumber 3 Roma tomatoes

1/2 cup sour cream 1/4 cup plain yogurt 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 clove garlic, finely minced 1 tablespoon white vinegar 1 tablespoon chopped chives Salt and freshly ground pepper

Cut the lettuce into bite size pieces. Slice the bell peppers into thin strips. Peel the cucumber and cut into bite size pieces. Slice the tomatoes in quarters. Toss vegetables on top of the lettuce and serve.

62 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

Combine the sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic, vinegar and chives in a bowl until well mixed. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 box (16 ounces) confectioners’ sugar 1/3 to 1/2 cup milk Combine the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan. Melt over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add the cocoa powder and stir until smooth. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer.

Add the confectioners’ sugar alternately with the milk, adding more milk, if necessary, to thin, and beat until fluffy and smooth.

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CAULIFLOWER AND BROCCOLI 1/2 head of cauliflower 1/2 bunch of broccoli 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 clove garlic, finely minced 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning blend Steam broccoli and cauliflower until slightly tender.

Heat butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Add garlic and sautĂŠ for 1 minute. Add the steamed vegetables, lemon juice and season to taste. NCM

Staci and Sarah Culbreth

{ Index

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Allscapes of Newnan . . . . . . . . . . .17 Amazing Smiles, P.C. . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Atlanta Christian College . . . . . . . .49 Bank of Coweta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 BB&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pools & Spas, Inc. . . . . . .13 Carrollton Eye Clinic, P.C. . . . . . . . . .63 Center For Allergy & Asthma . . . . .5 The Centre For Performing & Visual Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Chin Chin Newnan Chinese Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Coweta-Fayette EMC . . . . . . . . . . .67 Coweta Medical Center . . . . . . . . .31 Crossroads Podiatry . . . . . . . . . . . .42 The Dinoff School for the Gifted . .23 Discovery Point Child Development Centers . . . . . .45 Downtown Church of Christ . . . . .23 Farm Bureau Insurance . . . . . . . . .11 Farm & Masonry Supply . . . . . . . .21 Franklin Road Animal Clinic . . . . . .4 Heritage Retirement Homes of Peachtree . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 The Heritage School . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Hollberg's Fine Furniture . . . . . . . .45 Landmark Christian School . . . . . .53 Lee-King and Lee-Goodrum Pharmacies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Main Street Newnan . . . . . . . . . . .27 Maritime Air Charters . . . . . . . . . .30 Mattressmart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Mercer University . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Morgan Jewelers/Downtown . . . .39 Newnan Academy of Preschool & Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Newnan Rotary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Newnan Station Tire & Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 NGTurf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Phillips Dental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Radiation Oncology Services . . . . .3 The Ritzy Roost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Savannah Court of Newnan . . . . .45 Southern Crescent Equine Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 StoneBridge Early Learning Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Super Sand Professional Topdressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 The Times-Herald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Uniglobe McIntosh Travel . . . . . . .16 University of West Georgia . . . . . .35 Valentine Weight Loss & Wellness Center . . . . . . . . . . .61 Wesley Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Wedowee Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

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MAY/JUNE 2010 | 63

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Bookshelf }

The Cross Gardener

By Jason F. Wright Berkley, $22.95 Reviewed by Holly Jones Grief doesn’t even begin to describe what John Bevan is going through after his wife and unborn son are killed in a car wreck.

The day had been perfect. John and Emma Jane had taken their five-year-old daughter Lou Lou to the fair. They saw all the animals, John and Lou Lou rode some of the rides, and all three ate tons of fair food. They were all on their way home when a deer ran out in front of their van. Lou Lou runs out of the van, worried about the deer, and John chases after her telling Emma Jane to stay in the car and off her feet.

Then the out-of-control truck strikes the van.

This is the scene as readers begin Jason F. Wright’s The Cross Gardener.

Now John is simply going through the motions. Lou Lou has stopped talking and communicates only through her stuffed animals. The orchard John grew up in after being adopted as a child usually gives him comfort. Now he wanders through it only long enough to get to the small cemetery where his brother, father and grandfather are buried.

Emma Jane and baby Willard are buried in another cemetery.

John goes there too, but most of his time is spent on the side of the road where the van was struck. He built and erected two small white crosses there and checks on them daily.

During one of these trips, John finds another man tending to the crosses. The man won’t give John his name, simply explaining that he is the “cross gardener.”

Soon, the strange man is showing up at Emma Jane and Willard’s crosses every day – just like John – and the “gardener” starts asking John to drive him to sites of other deaths and other crosses that need 64 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

attention.

With every conversation and every trip, John learns more about why the stranger tends crosses. The more they talk, the more questions John has, but that seems to be what the gardener wants.

John also begins learning more about himself – what he has lost and what still awaits him.

The gardener tells John, “Sometimes in my work I think I forget that suffering happens everywhere, even when there is no cross. Or, perhaps, the cross is there.

We just don’t see it.”

Wright has created a portrait of grief, but he also teaches a lesson of love, of hope – and of the power of a cross.

Nine Lives

By Dan Baum Spiegel & Grau, $15 Reviewed by Holly Jones Nine stories. Two hurricanes. One city.

Dan Baum’s true story – or stories – of Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina and their impact on the lives of nine residents of New Orleans is the basis of Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans.

The book begins and ends with Ronald Lewis, who was 14 when Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans on Sept. 9, 1965. After Katrina struck his home and the Lower Ninth Ward he got a tattoo: “A three-inch-tall skull and crossbones, with the legend ‘RWL 65-05,’ glowed against his raw skin.”

Ronald explained, “These are the bookends of my life. Forty years apart.

Betsy and Katrina.”

The other stories feature Anthony Wells, the only one whose story is always told in first person without narration. Joyce Montana spent decades helping her husband Tootie create spectacularly feathered suits as the Big Chief of the Mardi Gras Indians. Tim Bruneau was born to be a policeman so he could protect the city he

loved. Belinda Carr’s only goals in life were to escape the Ninth Ward, go to college, and live in a house with a white picket fence like “The Waltons.” Billy Grace starts the book as an idealistic tax attorney, later marries into old money and ends up trying to bring the black and white sections of the city together, through Mardi Gras and after Katrina. Wilbert Rawlins Jr. fights to get students off the streets and in his high school marching bands. John – who becomes JoAnn – Guidos is struggling with who he is, what he is, and the kind of life he should lead.

Finally, there’s Frank Minyard. In the 1960s, he was New Orlean’s premier gynecologist. He had two offices, three cars, a racehorse, a sailboat and an enormous house. He also spent all the time he wasn’t working drunk and suicidal until he discovers his real passion – helping others. When Katrina hits, Frank is parish coroner and insists on autopsying and finding a burial plot for every corpse that comes through his makeshift morgue.

Occasionally stories intersect – Billy meets Tootie during Mardi Gras, and Wilbert and Belinda’s lives dovetail.

Primarily, though, these are nine separate lives. Their stories are heartbreaking, hopeful, beautiful and brutal. There are some disturbing moments in the book as well as vivid images too painful to imagine. But it is a book about New Orleans and we would expect nothing less.

Nine lives, two hurricanes, one city – and one amazing book.

Farmers Market Cookbook

By Southern Living Oxmoor House, $29.95 Reviewed by Angela McRae Farmers markets have been around for years, but these days it’s more popular than ever to visit an openair market or roadside stand to pick up some fresh fruits, vegetables or flowers. The farmers market experience, along with recipes that will please those who enjoy eating these fresh foods, is the focus of Southern Living’s new Farmers Market Cookbook.

“Farmers markets roots in American history can be traced back to the early 1930s, when the economy experienced the Great Depression,” the book says. “At a time when fresh produce was not

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always readily available in stores and many farmers were struggling to make a living, the idea of going straight to the individual became the saving grace of these producers across the nation.”

Today, farmers markets benefit from the fact more Americans are eating organically, locally and seasonally. To those new to such market shopping, the book offers some common-sense advice: Bring cash.

Take your time. Take the kids. Talk to the farmers. Try something new.

Once you’ve got your fresh foods, this book offers 200 recipes for using them. Helpfully, the book is organized according to season. You’ll try the Salted Caramel Strawberries and Fresh Asparagus Soup in spring, the ProsciuttoWrapped Mango Bites and Fresh Corn Cakes in summer. When the weather turns cool in the fall, you might try the Warm Cranberry Brie or Sweet PotatoPeanut Soup with Ham Croutons. For winter cooking there’s Pineapple Wassail and a beautiful Cranberry-Apple-Filled Walnut Cake Roll.

The book concludes with information on what to look for when buying seasonal produce and a state-by-state list of farmers markets.

For All the Tea in China

By Sarah Rose Viking, $25.95 Reviewed by Angela McRae Any local gardener who is a fan of the bleeding heart, winterblooming jasmine, white wisteria, corsage gardenia or Fortune’s Double Yellow tea rose has Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune to thank. More important, however, any southerner who has ever extolled the virtues of an icy cold glass of sweet tea can thank him as well.

Fortune’s fascinating story is brought to life in the pages of Sarah Rose’s new book For All the Tea in China. Born of humble means, Fortune first learns about horticulture from his farmworker father before earning a certificate in horticulture himself.

An ambitious man eager to advance in English society, he accepts an offer to explore China in search of plants at the request of the Royal Horticultural Society. Successful on that mission, he is then hired by the East India Company, which wants to grow tea in the Indian Himalayas. They hire Fortune to, as Rose puts it, “enact the greatest theft of trade secrets in the history of mankind.”

The tea-making industry in China was so secretive, so safe-guarded, that the East India Company knew it would have to steal the plants and tea-making technology if they were ever to grow their own tea in India. Fortune was apparently the ideal candidate for the job, and he was willing to dress the part. He had a coolie shave the front of his head and weave a ponytail extension to the nape of his neck just so he would be more likely to fit in. We know that Fortune was successful in his efforts because we drink the fruit of his work today.

What we might not know, however, is how very perilous his journey was, how he faced betrayal by his Chinese assistants, the dangers stemming from the opium dens, the occasional threats to his life and, most significantly of all, the many threats to the plants and seeds for which he risked such a journey.

This book reads like a novel and will take you on a rollercoaster of a ride from first page to last. Those who garden will particularly enjoy learning about Fortune’s many contributions to plant life in the West.

Proven Plants: Southern Gardens

By Erica Glasener Cool Springs Press, $24.95 Reviewed by Angela McRae If you’re looking for suggestions of what to plant in the southern garden this spring, you’d be hard pressed to find a handier guidebook than Erica Glasener’s new release, Proven Plants: Southern Gardens.

Glasener, who lives in Atlanta, is well known in the South and even nationally for her garden writing and television work.

In this book she lists 20 different plant categories and then recommends 10 plants for each, plants which all work well here in the South. Categories include Annuals (for both sun and shade), Perennials (for both sun and shade), Ferns, Groundcovers, Vines, Roses, Trees, Flowering Bulbs and more.

Glasener encourages proper soil preparation and believes in the saying “the right plant for the right place.”

“Just because a plant is a native doesn’t mean that it will thrive in any garden setting,” she says.

“Before you plant, whether you use plants that are native to your area or ornaments from another part of the world, take time to learn about your environment as well as the requirements of individual plants.”

Each recommended plant is pictured in color along with a brief description.

Glasener also includes information on the plant’s size, growing conditions, planting zones, uses and companion plants, making this book quite helpful for anyone choosing plants to add to the garden.

Also throughout the book, Glasener has included brief articles on such topics as espaliered plants, creating drama in the garden, and how to be a water-wise gardener.

The book concludes with a directory of southern gardens open to the public and a bibliography and glossary for those who wish to learn more.

A beautifully presented and wellorganized book, this one is a must for the southerner’s gardening library. NCM MAY/JUNE 2010 | 65

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I am Coweta }

Beverly Maddox

By Nichole Golden | Photo by Bob Fraley

Beverly Maddox was born in southeast Georgia, moved to the Atlanta area 48 years ago, and then to Coweta in 1999. She and her husband James have grown children and several grandchildren. Beverly retired in 1992 planning to read and sew. Little did she know that the only books she’d read would be related to gardening.

Have you always enjoyed gardening?

Yes. My interest began with my maternal grandmother while thumbing through the latest garden catalog, helping to harvest her zinnia seeds, trimming the crepe myrtle and especially while harvesting the tomatoes—with a tiny salt shaker in my pocket. We moved to Coweta County, because I had outgrown my yard with plants and I needed more room to dig. Most ladies I know view owning a new house as an opportunity to decorate with new furniture and paintings. But no, when the extra care trucks pulled onto the property, I unloaded all of my plant cuttings that I had propagated from the previous garden and the fun began.

Where did you learn to garden?

I don’t think I actually learned to garden, I think I just got a double dose of gardening genes from my maternal and paternal grandmothers. My maternal grandmother produced every vegetable imaginable and shared it with other families in the community. My paternal grandmother grew fruit trees and flowers.

Do you have both vegetable and flower gardens?

I usually leave the few vegetables (tomatoes, green beans, squash and cucumbers) that we grow to my husband and I plant the flowers.

What are your favorite things to grow?

There is absolutely nothing that I will not try to grow, but my favorite things are perennials, evergreens and flowering shrubs. I also believe nothing can compare with the sight of the delicate fiddleheads of my ferns or the fragrant, orchid-like blooms of the native azaleas. One of my prize efforts is a loquat plum tree that was grown from a seed. My garden wouldn’t be featured on the cover of Southern Living magazine, but it is my haven and a playground for the birds, butterflies, chipmunks, rabbits and squirrels.

What advice do you have for those who want to give gardening a try?

I don’t believe there are ‘Brown Thumbs,’ just impatient hands that fail to plan. My advice would be to start small, maybe a container garden. If you feel more adventurous, first, prepare your soil by getting a soil test, because you will need to determine the correct amounts of nutrients your plants will need.

Get an idea of what you may want to grow and the location in which you’ll put them, and then do a little research.

When did you become a Master Gardener and what is the process like?

I became a Master Gardener in April 2003. There are about 12 weeks of classes which are taught by specialists from the University of Georgia, Extension Agents from the Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, local horticulturists and sometimes our own veteran Master Gardeners. When the participants have passed the final exam, they are required to perform 50 hours of volunteer service in the first year. I enjoy my affiliation and I have accrued well over 1,000 volunteer hours. I have taken the Silver Star level of Advanced Classes, and in 2007 I was awarded Master Gardener of the Year.

What are your other hobbies?

My astrological sign is Pisces, the two fish swimming in different directions, so I don’t know if that is why I have varied hobbies for which I am equally passionate. I declare, I think I am addicted to working with stained glass, I cherish my reading time, I love photographing my flowers, I adore my wearable fabric art projects and was once an avid member of the Sewing Guild of America, and just recently, I find myself fascinated with ‘Paint’ on the computer. NCM

66 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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