Before Corrie graduated to heaven, John and I planned to turn the former Christmas tree farm into a special place again.
We started inside the house, but were put off for a long time by first the tornado, dealing with grief, and then John’s cancer and recovery. The outside required clean-up across the land and around the old barn.
I view the land my husband inherited from his parents as a blessing where John, our son, Hayes; and I can carve out a beautiful future. The land gives our son freedom, while also learning responsibility of care of the house and land.
Most importantly, the land offers us a place to turn our pain into beauty. We began with a memorial garden plan suggested by John and dreamed of by my Dad.
We began with the plants people donated during and after Corrie’s funeral to create her garden, after John built a retaining wall and marked out the sections of the first garden.
Currently, we have three gardens: Corrie’s Butterfly Garden (the original), Cora Belle Garden (shade), and Arendelle Garden (the most ambitious and largest). This doesn’t include plants around the front of the house and Japanese Maple.
Just as every plant on the farm shares a story by those who lived here before, the plants from Corrie’s funeral, and the ones we’ve purchased since then also have a tale. I went from knowing nothing about plants, even though my dad was a Master Gardener. As a child, I never shared his love of growing things. My husband, John, joked that I could look at an artificial plant and kill it.
In the three years since Corrie earned her wings, I had different stages of learning about gardens and plants. Gradually, gardening–and later crafting wreaths in the winter–nearly supplanted my writing. I came from knowing absolutely nothing to understanding my region, native plants, shade v. sun plants, and when to place them in the ground.
The first frost has occurred, so I can only plant my remaining evergreens, but I started early because I wanted to see green in each garden all year long. Corrie’s Butterfly Garden is part ornamental, part herb, and learning how to grow fruit, starting with the blueberry shrubs.
I’m native to the upstate of South Carolina, which is very different when compared to the low country about which most authors compose. I loved the rolling hills, and feel in love with my adopted state of North Carolina. I learned about the plants native to our area, including forming the purpose for the Arendelle Garden–a pollinator garden.
Where Do We Purchase Our Plants?
Only during the past year have I developed my taste in my favorite nurseries near me. There are four primary ones, and three of them are my favorite. It’s hard for me to say which greenhouse wins the prize for the most plants in Corrie’s gardens, but during the fall season, one of my three favorites solidified itself as my best-loved location to buy plants.
On an autumn day, if you’re going through Shelby, North Carolina; a greenhouse sits on a hill off the road. If you’re traveling one way, you might miss the family owned S&K Greenhouse. Justin and Alex make a lot of videos, and I’m firm believer that they should have their own show.
S&K is my chicken noodle soup when I have a cold, the fried chicken I shouldn’t have, infusion of all the good things Yoga preaches, and a healthy-ish addiction. The greenhouse covers social media from Facebook to TikTok and, as shown above, YouTube. There aren’t enough words to describe how fabulous this place is to visit.
Everyone who works in S&K, as well as my other favorite greenhouses near me, understands North Carolina plants and gardens. At S&K, they’ll help you with a garden vision of what plants to pair with each other. They also have a great selection of evergreens, and that makes it the place I visit most often right now.
The price for the size of the plants you purchase is fair. When you buy most shrubs or trees from S&K, most of them are 3 gal. They also sell indoor plants and garden flags. It’s a place I go to almost every weekend right now. Okay, every weekend I’m home.
I learn a lot about planting from watching videos, but I adore S&K’s videos because Justin and Alex make it fun. They are hilarious, and they share knowledge about the different plants.
Through S&K, I went from favoring evergreens with more of a Kentucky blue effect to any evergreen with golden growth. Through Justin’s videos, I learned about my personal favorite evergreen–now in every garden, except the shade–the Golden Globe Arborvitae.
When I looked at evergreen shrubs, I wanted something different from a boxwood. They are boring and unoriginal to me. I also believe Corrie would not care for them.
No matter the time of year, everything needs color. Most of the evergreens I’ve selected possess that golden tinge. It reminds me of new growth and hope despite what seems dark.
As a mother who will adores her children, the gardens provide memories of Corrie. They also offer our son, Hayes, a place to work and learn about growing plants in a way I never did. It offers him skills he can hone. I also remember where every plant came from.
I had a bad day on Friday, and I needed to visit a place, which always makes me smile. I will usually circle around S&K two or three times, simply because it brings me peace. I’ve wanted a Morgan Arborvitae for sometime, and I kept looking at the bigger one each time I went. But doing this helped me forget school or any other struggles.
I smile in a way I perhaps don’t around people, but going to S&K is like adding butter to bread. Maybe you don’t need it, but you really do need it. Last weekend, I got lucky because Justin had ordered some smaller Morgan Arborvitae in my price range. I now have two.
Yesterday made up from Friday when I saw he’d ordered more Radiance Abelia.
Everything was worth it when I came home because Hayes and John rebuilt the fire pit, and we had our first one of the season. Just the perfect end to a peaceful day.
Corrie's Season 