A garden to share

A garden should be a place where friends gather, a place that invites you in no matter what the season. Most importantly, it should reflect the personality of its owner. This is certainly true at Dan Franklin's small, in-town Atlanta home. You see, this garden is as colorful as the man himself.

I'll never forget the first time I met Dan. My wife, Aimee, and I were just married and had moved into a little house in Atlanta. One Saturday afternoon, I was trying to pull an old stump from the middle of the front yard, when out of nowhere this gentleman appeared. He introduced himself, told me it was about time someone pulled "that blasted eyesore" out of the yard, and let me know that his garden is open at five o'clock on Saturdays for cocktails. As quickly as he appeared, he was off. I stood there dumbfounded, thinking I had offended him. But how could I have? I had hardly said a word. Little did I know that this brief encounter would begin a long-lasting friendship.

Some weeks later, I mustered the courage to wander down the street and knock on Dan's front door at the appointed hour. His greeting was only to direct me to go around back and wait for him. As I walked around the side of the house, still thinking I'd offended him, the most glorious garden came from an old house being torn down, and the steps were crafted from curbing found at demolition projects around town. Finally the stone ball on the fountain was salvaged from a nearby house.

Even new elements are built from easy-to-find materials using simple construction methods. The fence is made of 6 x 6 posts, 2 x 4s, 1 x 2s, and 4- x 8-foot lattice panels. And the walls Dan designed to help transition grades around the garden are common cinder block with a stucco finish.

Continuous Blooms

While Dan's genius lies in simple design, his passion is for plants. Anchoring the walk up to Franklin's Outhouse and in the corners of the flowerbeds are English boxwoods. Florida flame azaleas (Rhododendron austrinum) reach out over the stone patio, and a hedge of `Mrs. G. G. Gerbing' azaleas lines one side. At the rear of the lot is a bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), known to bear 18-inch-long, yellowish-white blooms. Other unique plants in the garden are a 40-foot-tall yellow wood and a tree-form Japanese plum yew.

The flowerbeds provide a symphony of color throughout the year. Dan has used perennials and bulbs to minimize maintenance. Starting in early spring with jonquils and narcissus, the garden transitions into full-blown spring with white tulips, Dutch iris, yellow flag iris, `Newport Pink' sweet William, orange poppies, and foxgloves. Carrying it into summer are peonies, Shasta daisies, caladiums, cleomes, black-eyed Susans, bearded iris, perennial begonias, Japanese iris, reseeding impatiens, Oriental lilies, and garden phlox. In fall, goldenrod, asters, and sedum add seasonal color.

Time Well Spent

It's amazing how favorite places leave lasting impressions. Nearly 10 years after I first met Dan, I always try to build in some time to see him and his garden when in Atlanta. It's almost as if I'd never left. In fact, you'll see a bit of Dan's garden in my own. I've got a similar rectangular lawn, English boxwoods, `Mrs. G. G. Gerbing' azaleas, and even a small bottlebrush buckeye that was a gift from Dan. Still, no matter how hard I try, there's nothing like the original. And that's what both Dan and his garden are-true Southern originals.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Spring 2003
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