Family's love for plants grows

Cathy Hemmann's gardens serve as a family legacy on her rural property outside Oak Ridge along Highway 61.

The property has been owned by her family since 1857, and she remembers visiting the land as a child when it was her grandmother's home.

Her kids have hoed in the same dirt as their great-grandparents, she said.

Old maple trees and huge boxwoods line the side of the yard and were planted generations ago. The snowball hydrangea bush just past the front-porch deck also is a family heirloom. "It's always nice to see that come back," Hemmann said.

In a bed near the bush she's planted angels' trumpets, which bloom at night. The plants are reminiscent of ones her mother had growing on a front porch. "The fragrance is wonderful," she said.

Lilies and perennials fill most of the beds in Hemmann's gardens. She likes the ease of care perennials require. She has a variety of roses that bloom near the driveway and phlox on the opposite side of the sidewalk to attract butterflies.

Cannas received from her aunt, who passed away two years ago, fill another circular bed in her yard. "I have lots of bulbs and day lilies," she said. "They were all here."

But not all the plants she tends are ones passed on by ancestors. She's added plenty of her own touches to the yard. There is a stone pathway lined by hostas and potted annuals that leads to a pond she built.

Her daughter, Emma, 8, helps in the garden. Emma added lamb's ear this spring to one of the garden beds and planted a cardinal climber that winds up a trellis near the back of the house. She and her mother even built a birdhouse for the garden and used pine cones to make roof shingles.

Under the shade of old maples, koi fish swim in the pond where elephant ears and water lilies float. A wooden bench offers a good spot to relax and is one of the family's favorite places outdoors.

All the rocks bordering the pond were gathered on the family's dairy farm. A creek that runs through the farm property provided most of the sandstone rocks, though it took two years to gather them all. But Hemmann is a collector, so some were picked up on vacations and trips.

Though the old farm house that once stood on the property has been demolished, the steps and sidewalk that led to its front door remain. Blocks from an old summer kitchen or smokehouse are also still there.

And Hemmann said she likely will keep the retaining wall where her grandfather's name is inscribed. There also are metal rings that used to serve as horse-and-buggy hitches.

Being outdoors has always interested Hemmann, who grew up outside of Oak Ridge. But it wasn't until her oldest daughter was little that she started taking such a great interest.

"Once you get started you can't stop," she said. "I've always been outside and in nature, and when you're older you want to bring it to you."

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126