On the 16th of August, my sister, Lisa Brown, offered her home up as one of the gardens to see as part of Cathy T’s Walk and Talk garden tours – and what has been my biggest surprise about organizing these talks, is that I learned so much from my own sister about her garden experiences, which you think would come up in general conversation because, after all – we are sisters!

But life gets in the way sometimes, you may go to your sibling’s house and are there for some event usually, a holiday, a family gathering, whatever, and you may look at the garden while visiting – but to really “talk it” in detail can be missed because we are socializing otherwise.

During her walk and talk day, we all learned so much about her sunny hill side garden – one nice aspect is – many of her plants are gifts from friends.  One plant she pointed out was from a dear departed friend, and she says every time she walks by the plant – she is reminded of their friendship.

She also has tons of butterflies, birds, and a hawk moth was flying about visiting her butterfly bush.  I took several photos to share from this tour, which will be posted soon, but here is one shot of the hawk moth (also referred to as a hummingbird moth by folks, or sphinx moth), and ironically, I just had two friends tell me they saw one at their house for the first time recently.

One friend told me she gets a hawk moth every year at her house, and it will land on her hand!!  I never heard of this before – so cool.  She told me the moth is very friendly  — go figure, right? I will try that next time – put out my hand.  The moth did not seem to be bothered by me as I snapped photos at Lisa’s garden, and perhaps it is not camera shy.

Sphinx Moth on Butterfly Bush Blooms

For this morning, this is a quick post today to say THANK YOU so much to our host, Lisa of East Granby, CT — and to the attendees for participating at the last Walk and Talk tour for “this season.”  We enjoyed sharing our experiences with gardening, looking at the amazing view of the mountains from Lisa’s garden too, and capping off the tour season.

We have a 2015 schedule already started by volunteers to see more gardens at homeowner’s properties, which is exciting. The goal is to offer a tour once a month in season from spring til August.  Check in often to note the dates on your 2015 calendars or see the link above for the page on Walk and Talk Events.

For now, I have to run and get busy on a presentation, but I will be back shortly with more photos of the Sunny Hill Side Garden Tour.  There is much more to share with you as a review of our walk and even a very helpful handy list created by Lisa on the “do’s and don’t for a sunny hill side garden” based on her experience growing her garden full of flowering plants enjoyed by insects over several years – all done without the use of any insecticides or pesticides.  The list will be posted here soon.

Enjoy the superb warm and sunny weather predicted this week – it will be beautiful out!!

Cathy T

P.S. To the attendees of the October Hypertufa Class, just a reminder your check is due by September 6th to confirm your registration.  For questions, email containercathy@gmail.com or text 860-977-9473.