Gracefully transitioning to its deep autumn hues, the front garden of Carole and Roger Custer, 1115 McDuffie Drive, is the September Yard of the Month chosen by the Jefferson Garden Club.
An original red metal sculpture centers the garden as its focal point. Purchased by Carole in 2015 from artist Rob Lorenson of Boston, MA, she was delighted to learn Lorenson was a Cedar Falls native as she prefers to support the work of Iowa artists.
Bursting with rich colors, vibrant yellow black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers, purple blazing star, drifts of blue-green ornamental grasses with accents of cardinal bellflower create the scheme. Planted in 2016, the perennial garden is flourishing in the dappled sun-shade location despite the summer’s heat.
Bright green sweet potato vines are used as a unique groundcover along the home’s front foundation. Appetizing to deer in the neighborhood, the vines are sprayed often with deer deterrent.
The spring- summer palette of this garden is shades of blue with purple baptisia, “Rhapsody in Blue” wood sage (salvia) and purple sensation allium. Tom Thumb Cotoneaster serves as a tidy groundcover with glossy leaves on gently arching branches. Finding just the right sunny location in their yard for a Buck rose is currently on Carole’s to-do list. The roses were developed by Dr Griffith Buck, a longtime Iowa State University professor of horticulture. He created and named more than 80 cultivars of roses bred to withstand cold Iowa winters and hot summers without fungicides or pesticides.
