I am a retired high school art and humanities teacher. I grew up in the Appalachian mountains of southeast KY and now I live with my two rescued cats, Jazz and Daisy, in far western KY. I am an artist often doing commissioned work, and in addition to writing articles for Dave's Garden, I also write boating stories for a nautical magazine as well as other venues. My greatest loves are writing, painting, my 5 year old grandson, then learning the history of our numerous wildflowers in Kentucky. And, of course, there's gardening.
I never knew that catnip was for cats. I grew up thinking it was a mild tea that took my nightmares away. Read More
It grew on the rock wall in front of my grandmother's yard. Behind it lived the mysterious faeries and gnomes who flavored my bedtime stories. I learned early that it was called Ivy, and my aunt had been named for it. I left treasures as gifts for the little people who lived there, the feather of a blue bird, a tiny marble of red glass, and an occasional cookie. I watched closely for any signs of movement. Read More
Not so long ago one of my students offered me a "new" cough drop. She said it was the newest thing in Europe and that it really stopped coughs. Read More
Sometimes beauty is deceiving. Roses come with thorns. Moonflowers are highly toxic. There is so much to remember about plants, is it worth it to have these hidden dangers in our gardens? Well, of course it is. Read More
I thought the Chinese Lanterns should glow in the dark, just like the lightning bugs that flitted around them. I opened up the dried lantern and placed a glowing bug right inside. It was beautiful, and so I did it again, and again. Read More
The kids at school said there was a bear on my side of the mountain. They said it was on the Virginia side but they reckoned that the Virginians had run it clear across the mountain and now they just knew it was on my side. Read More
One of the few trees that did not live in my childhood environment in southeast Kentucky was the bald cypress. Now isn't that a strange name for such a lovely tree? This is the story of a tiny seedling that I knew nothing about, one that was guaranteed not to grow here in the flatlands of western Kentucky. Read More
Writing about broom is like opening a hornet's nest. It is well liked in the east, and very much disliked in the west. But it has an interesting history, and therein lies this story. Read More
I spent several summers of my adult life searching for horseweed, only to find out now that I am as old as the hills I grew up in, horseweed is not its name at all. Read More
Bugleweed is another plant that made its way around the mountainside in southeast KY. Read More
I love unusual plants, and I like most insects. Read More
If you plant Black-eyed Susans beside your door, no ants will enter, but the butterflies.....oh, the butterflies, they will just come right on in. Read More
It creeps upon us when we least expect it. One week we are weeding and deadheading from morning till night, then suddenly we are gasping and sweat is pouring down our faces. Read More
When I was growing up, I identified with the wallflower. It had a habit of clinging to walls and I had a habit of clinging to the sidelines of certain social events. Read More
When I was a child, I thought the best parts of a wedding were the bride's dress and the stack cake. Read More
This is one of the funniest Aunt Bett stories I will ever tell you. If you have ever laughed out loud at a most inappropriate time, you will surely understand the quandary I found myself in. A church service is a serious event, but in this one instance.....well, I might as well just take you with me on this little trip back to my twelfth year. Read More
Ahhh, the cornflowers. I can never have enough of them. Read More
Culver's Root scared me to death. Well, even when I was little I was a history buff, and I knew that it had killed Cotton Mather's little girl. Nobody was ever going to get me anywhere near culver's root. If I had to die, it was not going to be by the stalks of a tall skinny plant. Read More
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