Thanks, Margot

I lost a gardening friend today. I shared her with many others, who knew her much better than I did. I appreciated her willingness to extend her experiences and knowledge with others, and always felt her encouragement and support. I knew her as a garden writer, speaker, and fellow wildlife gardening enthusiast, whose gardening interests encompassed an exuberant lack of tidiness, as well as a love for flowers.

A recent talk focused on Flowering Shrubs: the Real Perennials, which embraced a transition to a vibrant, but lower maintenance garden as she approached her mid-seventies.

Time spent with her was always interesting. Her first book, Earthly Delights: Gardening by the Season the Easy Way, was a wonderful collection of essays honed from her gardening columns in The State (Columbia, SC) newspaper. Her second book is in press now. She was encouraging about my (small) book (written with others) about The Nature of Clemson, and always asked what my next book was. She was unfailingly encouraging about my gardening companion's efforts on his book, under contract to be published in a couple of years.

A hardy climbing rose, facing the first frost of the season tonight

I appreciated her interest in my writing - I'd never thought about myself as a (garden) writer before, in spite of a lifetime thinking, teaching, and writing about plants and nature. But that's what's wonderful about friends - they see and encourage you to be something different.

Thanks, Margot.