In Fort Worth, senior residents sow seeds of pride and joy

Whether grand or humble, designed with deliberation or evolved from spontaneity and impulse, a garden is a wondrous place — a quiet spot for contemplation, a riot of color for an instant uplift, a haven for wildlife.

At Courtyards at River Park, a senior living community in Fort Worth, this truth is clear — and dear — to the residents of Building 12, where a small courtyard garden has become a great source of pride. Originally a patio edged by small trees and shrubs and dotted in the middle with a circle of liriope, it didn’t have much going for it.

“They had peacocks out there to begin with, and they made a big mess,” resident Jean Standley says.

About a year ago, Pat Kemp moved into Building 12, and things began to change. She asked if she could bring some of her plants and, soon, had anchored three shepherd’s crooks in the middle circle and hung a fern, an airplane plant and a bougainvillea.

Apparently, that was just for starters. Neighbor Cy Baird says a recent count of Building 12’s community plantings reveals a total of 45.

Kemp, whom everyone calls “the flower lady,” explains: “Everybody said [the garden] was so nice and started bringing money for me to buy more [plants]. Some brought plants, so it just grew. The ladies are always asking me what I need out here.”

Hummingbirds love the big pot of red salvia. Yellow mums from last fall brighten a green hedge.

The geraniums are crowd pleasers. Another resident, Diane Davidson, says, “I always had a geranium plant in my kitchen window when I had my house. They make me happy.”

Her friend Betty Rhudy added a hanging basket overflowing with bright yellow million bells when she returned from rehab.

Kemp’s personal favorite is a basket of blue daze. “Every morning they open up. They never drop a leaf. Then they close. The next morning here they come again,” she says.

Standley adds, “And they’re so tiny.”

Kemp maintains the garden, watering daily and fertilizing as needed and, of course, she routinely scouts for new plants and whimsical garden decorations. Recently, she came home with a “God Bless America” sign from At Home and some succulents from Tom Thumb.

Every spring, she creates the containers and hanging baskets anew from 4-inch pots of annuals found at Home Depot or Calloway’s. In the fall, she replaces summer annuals with violas and pansies.

As a result of Kemp’s hard work, the garden has evolved into a gathering place. A table and chairs and a nearby swing host residents for morning coffee before breakfast. On special occasions like Father’s Day and the Fourth of July, the staff sets up a grill for cookouts. Meanwhile, Kemp says the curtains from a long panel of windows in the dining room have come down to accommodate greater interior views of the unique courtyard garden.

“A lot of people come out here and sit by themselves and meditate,” she adds.

While the peacocks have been relocated, native birds still flock to the garden — largely due to Baird’s efforts. He maintains feeders of sunflower seed, millet and peanuts so that residents are rewarded with the antics of blue jays, cardinals, crows and doves.

Squirrels have joined in, too, causing Kemp to attach a bungee cord to a shepherd’s crook in hopes of luring the squirrels away from the bird feeders with ears of dried corn.

Whether for its beauty, as Gail Evans cites, or because it duplicates a bit of their former homes, as Standley believes, the modest garden has become the pride and joy of Building 12’s octogenarians and nonagenarians.

And, with imitation being one of the most sincere forms of flattery, the residents report that Bea King, a resident of Building 13, has begun replicating the idea in her building’s courtyard, sowing more seeds of contentment and community — and perhaps a touch of friendly competition.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 12:41 PM with the headline "In Fort Worth, senior residents sow seeds of pride and joy."