BY GINNY GEIGER AND BARBARA ANDERSON
Garden Club of the Lakes
Do you, by chance, remember what we wrote in one of our Yard-of-The-Month articles listing some of what “caught our eyes” as we were riding around? We mentioned the uniqueness of the landscape, or the variety of plants, or the beauty of the flowers or something just special.
ROCKS! Yes, rocks caught our eyes in Ken and Mary Jean Mitchell’s yard at 5500 S.E. 3rd Ave. Little did we know when we knocked on their door that we would find out some really fun history behind their rocks.
Mary Jean and Ken grew up in Northwestern Pennsylvania, where rocks were everywhere. They settled in Hawthorne in 1988 and then moved to Keystone Heights 25 years ago to continue Ken’s auction business. It did not take them long to realize they really missed rocks. Maybe a bit different, but they love rocks and the memories they hold.
Looking closely at the pictures, you will see a few large rectangular rocks. (Some of their “rocks” are so large they really need to be called “stones.”) Those stones were part of the foundation of the old farmhouse where Ken grew up in Cory, Pennsylvania.
Then, there are the flat slate stepping stones making a path through their flowers. These stones are pretty heavy, so they brought back only one or two each time they visited. Ken and his brother got them from the “crick” behind the old farmhouse. Yep, that’s right. When “CRICK” came out of Mary Jean’s mouth, she started laughing at herself. “That’s how we say it in Pennsylvania.” Translation: “crick” is creek in regular English.
The small rocks placed all around the yard have a unique story, as well. Mary Jean and her sister, Ruthann, have gone on many trips together, and guess what—they brought back a rock from each of their trips. These sisters have visited at least 15 eastern states, always going somewhere they had never been before. They have gone hot air ballooning, parasailing, whitewater rafting, whale watching, sailing, and boating.
One of their most memorable trips was to Holland and Belgium. Unfortunately, their luggage was limited in weight, so no rocks came back from that trip.
Other than the numerous rocks, Ken planted dogwoods, magnolias, azaleas, crepe myrtles, camellias, bottle brush, red buds, sago palms, and bromeliads, to name a few. He planned out their yard to ensure he planted trees that would flower at different times so they could enjoy their beauty almost all year round.
The trees, plants, flowers, and rocks are not the only things in the Mitchells’ yard. Their fall decorations are also colorful and fun to look at.
Now for another memory quiz: Do you remember that we wrote, “…without fail, the people responsible for the special yards turn out to be the most interesting people with amazing stories”? Most people have amazing stories, but many of us never have or take the time to listen. That is one of the great advantages of our Yard of The Month “job.” We have time to talk and listen to some fascinating people.
For this new year, we decided to do “unique” yards/people for a few of this year’s awards. The Mitchells really helped us out with our new idea. When we went inside to get out of the heat and talk about their yard, we could not stop looking at what we were surrounded by – pumpkins – all sizes and shapes made out of some of the most unusual materials: woodchips, dryer vents, pinecones, leaves, grape vines, bark, rope, corn husks, blown glass, and cloth. Outside, along with their other fall decorations, is a pumpkin made of horseshoes.
It was so interesting and unusual that we decided this Yard of the Month would be one of our unique ones. We have never done a Yard of the Month AND an “Inside of the Month,” but this was an experience we just could not keep to ourselves! We wanted to share it all with you!
Mary Jean’s interest in pumpkins and their collection has been around for almost as long as she has collected rocks. Even though she is unsure how it happened, she finds that collecting pumpkins brings her much joy.
The Mitchells are as fascinating as their pumpkin and rock collections. They were missionaries in Africa for three years, serving in Benin, West Africa, with the Sudan Interior Mission Board. They had three very young boys at the time, which made it quite an adventure. Since French is the language of Benin, the Mitchells had to go to Quebec, Canada, to learn French. Now that’s dedication!
We have never assigned you an assignment before, but here it is: Go by the Mitchells at Christmas. Mary Jean is responsible for the fall decorations, and Ken is the Christmas decorating guru. They have such a huge collection of holiday (ALL holidays) decorations that they had to get a climate-controlled storage unit. We are not joking about these collectors!
If you want to learn more about the Garden Club of the Lakes or nominate yourself or anyone in the community for Yard of The Month, please call Pat Lorenzo at (904) 728-9460.
