by Lydia Holley August 10, 2020
Master Gardener Susan Skommesa loves to grow vegetables. She says, “Veggie gardening
always reminds me of my favorite aspect of gardening as a child, sitting amongst the plants,
eating fresh from the vine. I am out-growing my vegetable garden; it needs expanding. What
vegetable gardener does not say that?”
But for Skommesa, vegetable growing has led to an unexpected love: growing ornamentals. “I
was never into ornamentals until I moved into our current house, and couldn’t produce veggies. The flowers grew plentifully, the plants were lush and green, but no fruit. Once I realized it was a lack of pollinators, I started planting colorful nectar lures like honeysuckle and Carolina jessamine. As soon as I started planting flowers, I started getting bees. Now I love flower gardening as much as veggie gardening.”
Growing a new ornamental garden has been a bit of trial and error. “It’s hard to build a garden from scratch. Especially with the wrong expectation that it will look like a magazine garden in the first year. I struggled in the beginning with what to put in my garden that only gets morning sun. It is finally filling out very nicely.“
In addition to vegetables, Skommesa now grows roses, rose of Sharon, and cannas. She is most excited about her Texas spider lilies (Hymenocallis liriosme). “I absolutely adore my Texas spider lilies. This fall I’ll be rearranging that garden a bit to make them the centerpiece. Almost all year, they sport broad deep green leaves, and then they have these unique and gorgeous white blooms that last a good long time. They have been there for about two years now. I started with two, but they have multiplied to the point where I can make a cluster in the center of the garden under the picture window. They are not so tall that they will hinder the view of my adorable window box there.”
Skommesa was an experienced gardener before she moved to Texas. She decided to take the Master Gardener course to help with that transition. “A lot of what I know about gardening has been learned in the school of hard knocks. Everywhere I’ve lived has required different gardening techniques and knowledge. If you mess up, you lose a whole season. Lots of work and no reward. When I moved to Texas, I wanted to meet people and substantially shorten the learning curve. I figured that taking the Master Gardener class would save many seasons of trial and error. I’ve met a great group of folks and learned what I need to be successful…though with gardening you never stop learning.”
Skommesa volunteers with Henderson County Master Gardener Association (HCMGA) as the editor of the organization’s email newsletter, The Inside Dirt. She says, “This publication is a great way to share knowledge and use my gifts in the realm of publishing and writing.” As a vegetable gardener, she is also excited about HCMGA’s newest project, the Harvest Garden. “It provides a training ground so people don’t have to learn the hard way – by trial and error. It’s size, scope and beauty is a testimony to the teamwork that makes Henderson County Master Gardeners such a unique and effective group of gardeners on the mission to share what they know.”
For more information, call 903-675-6130, email hendersonCMGA@gmail.com.
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