By Kerri Williams

Editor’s note: This is the first of an occasional series of columns by Journal reporter Kerri Williams, exploring her journey with backyard gardening, offering tips for success, and highlighting some of the horticultural beauty found right here in Westport.

Kerri Williams watering a garden at the C.H. Booth Library in Newtown.

Every year at this time, the call of the outdoors takes over my life. I can’t wait to get into my yard and see the bulbs sprouting, the trees budding, and the grass turning greener. I can’t wait to get my hands in the dirt.

As a former garden club president in Connecticut, I know I am not alone. That’s why I am sharing some of my own experiences and thoughts about gardening and nature in this column. I hope “Cultivating with Kerri” is motivating to those who already garden and to those digging in for the first time.

My own love for the outdoors began as a little girl when I worked in my parents’ vegetable garden in Massachusetts. There was something about the neat rows of green beans, summer squash and peas. Weeding those plants was hard work, but I discovered that nothing beats the taste of vegetables fresh from the backyard. I felt proud knowing that I had a hand in growing what was on my plate. I shared that experience with my own kids, starting seeds indoors in Dixie cups and planting seedlings in our yard. Later, as a garden club member, I got to share it further with children and adults in my community.

My parents also had flower beds while I was growing up, but it wasn’t until later in my life that my love for flowers bloomed when my husband and I settled into our first home in Trumbull. The yard already had gorgeous azalea and rhododendron bushes and an old-fashioned rose plant that grew up a trellis.  I took over a sunny patch of earth in the backyard and made it my own, turning the earth over by hand to create a flower and herb garden.

An early love for digging in the dirt becomes a lifetime obsession

Rosemary plants at Gilbertie’s Garden Center in Westport.

When it comes to growing herbs, Westport has the expertise of Gilbertie’s Garden Center on Sylvan Lane in Westport, as many of you I am sure are familiar with. I’ve spent hours in their greenhouses, taking in the fragrance and foliage of the herbs, making careful decisions on which ones I would take home. Not all those decisions were good ones, but I learned through experience which herbs thrived in my patch. I used rosemary and basil in my cooking, made tarragon-flavored vinegar, and created sachets with lavender. I even filled little bags with catnip from my garden for our cat, Dickens.

Later, when our kids were young, our family moved to Newtown where I had the fortune to live in two homes with natural rock gardens in the back yard. These gardens lacked the sun of the one in Trumbull, so I learned about plants such as astilbe and hosta that do better in the shade.

One day while walking my dog around the neighborhood, I met Kim, a seasoned gardener. I could only gasp at the colorful perennials that filled the numerous beds behind her log home. To my delight, she was more than willing to share her tips. Kim took me to garden centers across the state and helped me pick out plants that might do well in the partial sunlight of my back yard. She also encouraged me to join our local garden club, a step that would change my gardening life forever.

Being in the garden club was a great way to meet friends who shared my love for the outdoors. But it also opened me up to new ideas such as planting native shrubs and plants. Many of those natives attract pollinators, including bees and butterflies. I learned how to bring flowers inside and create beautiful arrangements and how to decorate a simple wreath to make a masterpiece.

The club had speakers from across the state who shared their expertise on everything from the art of bonsai to gardening in pots and creating a fairy garden. I hope to do more in-depth columns on many of these topics.

I became co-president of the garden club shortly before Covid set in. It was a time when many of us turned to our backyards as a refuge, and I was certainly one of them. It was also a time that taught us all to be a little more creative, holding meetings on Zoom and touring gardens outside while wearing masks. Most recently, I have created gardens in our rural New York yard that features an existing pond and water lilies.

A couple of crocuses, an early sign of spring, at Kerri’s home.

So, now you know a little more about me and my journey in the world of gardening. I also hope to get to know you a bit more and showcase some of your gardens and ideas in upcoming columns.

And don’t forget to start cultivating your own part of the world.

Kerri Williams is a freelance writer who has worked in journalism for years, including as a reporter for the Norwalk Hour and managing editor of the Norwalk Citizen-News. If you have pictures or ideas to share, please send her an email at cultivatingwithkerri@gmail.com.