Remembering Eleanor

Spring and summer are seasonal reminders to me of those who have contributed to my perennial gardens. As their gifts to me come into bloom I remember the person who gave the plants to me and their kindness in doing so.

This year in particular I will be remembering our neighbor, Eleanor DiSabito, who sadly passed away in February. She was responsible for sparking my interest in gardening. About 40 years ago she walked across the street to our house carrying some daisy and coreopsis plants. At the time I was planting annuals in front of a split rail fence that was over 30-feet in length. This required a lot of plants that cost a lot of money.

At the time I barely knew what a perennial was. She explained that the plants she was giving me could be divided over time and I could have more of them without spending any money. Now that sounded like a deal to me!

Eleanor told me to stop over any time and take a look at her gardens. A few days later I saw her tending to a climbing vine on the side of her house. So I walked over and we headed to her back yard. When I saw the beautiful garden areas out there I felt like I had stepped into a magazine page of Better Homes and Gardens. The layout, colors and textures were gorgeous. She patiently told me the names and characteristics of everything that was in bloom. I also learned that I had missed the early bloomers, such as primrose, but I could see them next spring and take some divisions of them home with me. 

Seeing some vegetables mixed in with the flowers fascinated me as they were great companions.

One thing I learned about Eleanor over the years was that she didn’t have any interest in computers. By 2000 I was getting ideas for new plants online. Eleanor was getting her ideas from books and magazines. She called a room downstairs her “office” and that is where she perused garden literature. I do my browsing on a desktop computer in an upstairs room that I call my “office.” When Eleanor would read about an interesting plant she would say to me, “You can check it out on your computer!”  

One of the more unusual plants Eleanor gave me is the May apple. The leaves are umbrella shaped.  Several years back a contractor was doing some work at our house and saw me in the gardens. He asked if I would show him what I was growing. When we came to the May apple plants he asked me if I got them from “the lady across the street.” Apparently Eleanor had shared some with him too. In spite of being curious I didn’t ask how he happened to be a lucky recipient. However, I could tell that he was very happy to have received them.

Rutland Magazine was a favorite of Eleanor’s and I am one of the writers for that publication. Several years ago I asked her if she would come over to my house so the magazine owners could take a picture of the two of us for one of my articles. I thought it was fitting to have the person who piqued my interest in gardening to be “side by side” with me in a photo as we looked at the flowers in bloom. The topic of my article was sharing plants with others and how each season we remember the people who gave them to us as the plants come into bloom.

A foot injury cut short Eleanor’s time in the garden. I know it was frustrating to look at the gardens from their deck and not be able to tend them like she used to. She would point me in the proper direction to dig up the plants that she wanted me to have.

I will miss Eleanor’s enthusiasm for gardening and her advice on how to solve a problem when something goes wrong in my own garden.

Don’t hesitate to share your plants with others. They tell a story and will spark memories with every gardening season.