Lise Westfall likes a lot of everything.
You can see that when you walk through her house. Wall space is filled with treasures. Same goes for her backyard garden, a lush green space bordered by a white rail fence, dotted with hanging baskets of fern.
Perennials and annuals are packed in like fans at a Cardinals sell-out. Those not in the ground fill pots and tumble from birdbaths. Paths wind through the tree-shaded yard.
“The kids brought the maple seeds home from school,” said Lise, 59, standing beneath one. “We put them in pots and they grew into trees, one here, one on the other side and one in the neighbor’s yard. These trees have gotten very special. My oldest son (Michael) was 17 when he died a couple years ago of cancer. They are part of him.”
The maples have been joined by river birch, red bud, dogwood and a weeping willow.
Lise’s garden is one of eight you can visit from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 1, during this year’s Gardens In Bloom. The gardens are in O’Fallon this year. Tickets are $10 in advance; $12 the day of the tour, which is produced by St. Clair County Extension Education Foundation.
“All offer something unique,” said Kathy Sisler, of O’Fallon, who helped select the gardens. “They show that no matter what kind of space you have — small or large, sunny or shady — you can get ideas from these gardens that will help you do something with your own.”
Lise’s rectangular backyard is in Winding Creek Estates, a neighborhood of nicely-landscaped brick and sided homes. When she and her mother, Selma Westfall, moved in 17 years ago, their yard was flat with a sharp rise at the back — until Lise saw a magazine photo of a landscaped hillside.
“It had rocks (on a hill) with stairs going to nowhere.”
Now, so does hers. The rise created an opportunity to set outcroppings of boulders into the hill. Plants have grown around them.
“I like the rocks, the naturalness,” said Lise. “Over here, you can see a second set of rocks. I have a little chipmunk family that lives in here.”
Another magazine photo inspired the brick paver walkway with a fountain in the middle of a teardrop berm.
“I came out with a hose to lay it out,” said Lise. “I called on Scott’s (Landscaping). They listen to you. ‘Look, Israel, here’s the picture.'”
Now, her garden is a picture — and a delight to visitors who follow a steppingstone path around the side of the house to get there.
“It’s an oasis back there, peaceful and serene,” said Israel Hayes, landscape supervisor at Scott’s Landscaping. “You feel you are somewhere else. It’s definitely one of the nicest gardens that I have been in.”
“Oh my gosh, look how interesting and peaceful and different it is,” said Edie Sandoval, a gardening tour committee member. “It’s totally awesome. There’s so much shade and so many interesting plants and things, you’re like in a different world — and there’s no grass.”
That doesn’t keep Lise’s kids from playing soccer or badminton.
“The kids and I come out here a lot,” said Lise, the mother of two sons, Daniel, 17, and Alex, 7, both adopted from Guatemala. “The little one will get on rocks and jump down. It doesn’s hurt plants. If he steps on a perennial, it will pop right back.”
Lise, who is business manager in the department of developmental biology at Washington University School of Medicine, hosts family gatherings in the yard, including her brother’s wedding.
The garden and its elements also spark memories.
The white wishing well was a mother-son project.
“When the deck was made, these were residual pieces of wood,” she said. “My oldest son and I built that. He was probably about 5. It sits on top of a city drainage hole.”
Lise’s mom, who died two years ago, picked out the weeping willow that grows tall behind it.
“A trail goes up and there’s a seat,” said Lise. “I like sitting beneath the weeping willow. It’s just quiet.”
An alien figure and a crane came home with the family after vacations on Dauphin Island, Ala.
Lise reserves the west side of the house to nurse plants back to health and divide healthy ones.
“If something’s not happy, I put them over here. If you can’t do well over here, you have to go away.”
Lise grew up in O’Fallon along the Scott-Troy Road. Her father, Bill, raised sheep, worked at Scott Air Force Base, and took care of a vegetable garden. Her mom tended the flowers.
“We had an acre in garden — strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, peas and beans,” she said. “Everything. We were always out in the garden. Mom always had us outside. I was one of five. We all garden.”
When Lise and her siblings talk, conversations often turn to plants. She likes the creative aspect of gardening.
“You see something in your head and create it. I’m sure it’s no different than somebody who paints. I find it calming and quite spiritual.”
She fits it in evenings and weekends. Automatic sprinklers save watering time. The density of her plants keeps weeds at bay.
“To be digging in dirt, you kind of listen to where plants want to be,” she said. “It sounds funny, but I think they talk to us. ‘Put me here.’ Or they will talk to you in the store, ‘Buy me, I will do well by you.'”
Some of Lise’s favorites:
–Hostas. Some are in the ground; others are in pots, grouped together. She had just moved a a huge variegated-leaf variety called “Some and Substance” to a sunnier spot to bring out its lime color.
— Leopard’s bane, a yellow daisy-like perennial that blooms early and spreads. “The leaves on it are jagged and big,” Lise said. “Once the flowers are gone, it’s like a ground cover. I bought two plants.”
— Becky (Shasta) daisies. “They’re very good solid daisies with hard leaves and strong stems.”
— Impatiens are a favorite shade-loving annual. “They give color and keep geting bigger as summer goes on.”
They vie for attention with geraniums, caladium and petunias.
— Petunias. She’s partial to the Bubblegum petunia. “It’s old-fashioned. It just keeps blooming.” Other types she may cut back. “If I’m going on vacation, I sheer off the top. By the time I get back, they will be ready to bloom again.”
— Annabelle hydrangeas. “They’re native to this area. I have quite a few hydrangeas to give body to the (garden).”
If you go:
What: 2013 Gardens In Bloom — tour of eight O’Fallon gardens
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 1
Cost: $10 in advance; $12 day of the tour
Where to buy tickets: Ace Hardware, O’Fallon; Eckert’s Country Store, Belleville; Effinger’s Garden Center, Belleville; Hometown Ace Hardware, Belleville; Sandy’s Back Porch, Belleville; Starr Florist Greenhouses, Belleville; Terry’s Home Garden Center, Centreville; University of Illinois Extension Offices, Waterloo or Collilnsville
Produced by: St. Clair County Extension Education Foundation, benefiting University of Illinois Extension programs
Plant sale: United Methodist Church, 504 East U.S. 50, O’Fallon
Information: 939-3434 or 344-4230
Lise Westfall, of O’Fallon, has been playing in the garden since she was a kid. Her shady backyard paradise, full of flowers and plants, fountains and benches and many personal touches, is a delight to visit.
Here’s what she does to make it work.
Stuff it: “I like to stuff things. That keeps the weeds down. Also, I didn’t do all this at one time. I know someone would tell me I am crazy, but I do not find this that much work.”
Group things: “This spring, I had more pots scattered around than grouped together. It looked much better when they were grouped.” She changes flowers in the pots and moves them around, creating variety in the landscape.
Buy more than one of everything. “My one little plant looks cute. A mass looks great.”
