Jackie Perry has lived in her home on the corner of Bayland and Watson for 8-plus years.
"I grew up with a family of gardeners-mostly vegetables. My deceased grandmother is laughing in heaven since I detested garden maintenance as a kid."
While her degree is in business, her love of gardening and possibly the influence of her family's vegetable gardens led her to take many horticulture classes while pursuing her degree.
"I took 50-60 credit hours of horticulture classes at the University of Delaware. I learned a LOT! Being there expanded my plant palette immensely."
When asked what her inspiration is for choosing what to grow in her yard, Jackie said, "If it grows in the shade, I will look at it, and then what I choose is personal taste."
For a shady garden, Jackie suggests, “I love coleus for my abundant shade. So much hybridization has gone on for years. They are colorful, ornamental, and tough!”
Her front yard, which sits in deep shade, holds a colorful mix of coleus and caladiums who find the shade a great place to grow under in our Houston sunny climate.
Joshua’s Native Plants on 18th Street is a local nursery she visits and buys from regularly, “I love Joshua’s. He is a fountain of knowledge, and he has specimen plants.”
Taking a walk through her garden, you’ll find several native plants growing and providing a friendly environment for various flying, crawling, or buzzing pollinators and … including anoles, chameleons, toads, butterflies, moths, all sorts of birds.
Some plants you’re likely to find in her garden include Rivina humilis (pigeon berry), Myrica cerifera ( bayberry), Dryopteris ludoviciana ( Southern wood fern), Salvia lyrata (lyre leaf sage), Hibiscus coccineus (Texas star hibiscus), Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed), Aquilegia chrysantha (Texas yellow columbine), Datura wrightii (Angel trumpet), Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), Ruellia, Spigelia marilandica (Indian pink), Sephora secundiflora (Texas mountain laurel), Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry), Gelsemium sempervirens (Carolina jasmine), Osmunda cinnamonea (cinnamon fern), Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern). But her favorites are gardenias.
It takes a bit of time to tend such a beautiful garden; Jackie says that this time of year, during the growing season, it can take about 15 hours a week to keep up with her plants.
When asked about her favorite part of the garden, she responded, “My favorite is creating colorful, cohesive beds in the shade (a challenge). My least favorite is cleaning up the constant mess created by the 5 live oaks.”
Her reaction to having her yard recognized as Yard of the Month, Jackie says she’s “Proud of my creation and of its recognition.”