By
Linda Lovely
Spring is easy
for gardeners. Practically everything blooms. At least in the South, it’s hard
to have a garden that doesn’t look gorgeous in April. Flower beds filled with
crocuses, daffodils, and irises paired with feathery white dogwoods, azaleas in
every hue, and purple rhododendron.
Autumn is
tougher. Yes, I just bought a flat of pansies to give a splash of color that
will last from now until next spring. But, since I like to get maximum payback
on my elbow grease investment, I concentrate on planting perennials and bushes
that flower at least twice a year.
Here are some of
my garden favorites. These pictures were taken on September 20 in my yard. (Well,
I did crop out a few nearby weeds.)
Miss Huff Lantana-Comes up faithfully every year
and blooms for me until frost.
Variegated Liriope-Great edging to brighten a shady
path. Hard to kill. Drought tolerant. Blooms late summer into fall. Year-round
leaf color.
Encore Azaleas-Bloom twice a year. For me, fall
is always the more prolific bloom period. Blooms last for WEEKS.
Knock Out Roses-Start blooming in May and keep
right on chugging into October. Disease resistant and pretty forgiving. A
beaver chewed my largest bush down to a couple of jagged stumps. Came back next
season.
Orange Tea Olives-We have three kinds of tea olives
in our yard. Terrific privacy hedge. The bushes (ours are about 10-feet tall
now) have green glossy leaves year-round. PLUS they bloom multiple times a year,
including right now. The smell especially from the fragrant variety is
unbelievable and heavenly.
Loropetalum-I love these bushes (can be trees) with
their green/purple foliage and feathery pink flowers. In spring, they look like
cotton candy. But, depending on the year, they also bloom in fall.
What do gardening
and these plants have to do with writing?
Just like
perennials and flowering bushes continue to provide enjoyment season after
season, series—novels that feature the same main characters and themes—pay continuing
dividends for authors and fans. With a little tender-loving care, the same
characters can prosper for many years as we follow them in new
stories/adventures. A bonus is that we get to know the characters better with each
new book in the series. That’s why I write two series: Marley Clark Mysteries
and Smart Women, Dumb Luck Romantic Thrillers.
So why is my new
novel, Lies: Secrets Can Kill, a standalone historical suspense novel? Stories
my relatives told me about life in the 1930s and the colorful Street
Fairs that were a tradition in my hometown of Keokuk, Iowa, called to me to
write a story set in that time and place.
Colorful annual
flowers and one-of-a-kind books sometimes captivate me as a gardener and a writer. Sometimes it's impossible to resist intriguing departures from the perennial/series rule.
Do you
read/write series and stand-alone books? What’s your preference?
For more info about LIES: http://windtreepress.com/portfolio/lies/
