By JOYCE ARLEEN CORSON
Master Gardener

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Corson is a graduate of Adams Central High School, Manchester University and Ball State University. She and her husband, Ron, were married and enjoyed many years of traveling before they settled at Lake Papakeechie to raise their family. Soon after moving to the Syracuse area, Corson joined the Syracuse/Wawasee Garden Club and then became a Kosciusko County Master Gardener in 2002, the same year she retired from teaching.

“Early on my interest in gardening came from a lineage of farmers and their wives, including three generations of generosity, giving me an enormous collection of heritage trees, shrubs and flowers. History and traveling has given me special interest in native flowers, hosta , the art of bonsai and many plants that have been naturalized.”

Individuals who wish to contact Corson for further information or questions may email her at [email protected])

A garden in name only may be many things to many people. Almost universally, the garden is a symbol of earthly and heavenly paradise. The word “paradise” comes from pairdaeza, the Old Persian word for a garden. Within the garden, the design and plants contribute to its symbolism. The first gardens were probably made in China around 4,000 years ago. From there they spread to the Mediterranean and Near East, and since then almost every culture that survives above a subsistence level has created gardens.*

The garden may be a plot of land or water, to which you have been entrusted, to cultivate and grow plants providing the roots have light, temperature and moisture. Plants may grow in soil or dirt as you say, water and air, so gardening is a noun that describes not what you did, but what you got when you gardened! You may wonder why did I plant this and not that, or why am I reading this and not tomclothier.hort.net?

Most of my life I have been surrounded by water. My parents bought our farm in Adams County, IN, which has the Bracht ditch running through, when I was six years old. After college, Ron and I bought our first home in Pleasant Township, Wabash County, IN, with a meandering source of water flowing in the direction of the Eel River. Since 1969 we’ve lived on Lake Papakeechie, naturally beautiful, fed with springs and artesian wells as described by Charles Sudlow.

The Japanese Carp Koi, found swimming in many Japanese water gardens, are symbols of the patience, courage and strength required to achieve big goals in business and life.* The sounds and sights of water stimulate our senses.

The entrance to the lake garden or shoreline, is flanked with a fountain designed after a garden in Tivoli, Italy, where the gravity fed water is supplied by the Anien river. Our fountain is designed in this same pattern but is pumped from the lake through a side jet that fills the oval glacial rock basin and then to the fountain which is fleur eleis. The balustrade on top is of faux windows much like the one at Tivoli Gardens built by Dave and Gary Moore.

Flowers lining the shoreline of our garden include Purplestem Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum), Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis) and Lizard’s Tail perennial (Saururus cernuus). These are tall enough to deter many predators yet allow a view of the garden.

For the lover of game fish, water foul and birds, consider Eelgrass, tape grass or wild celery (Zostrea) and Spatterdock (Nuphar lutea). Eelgrass forms beds and meadows that grow in bays and coves, tidal creeks and estuaries. These beds are a haven for numerous species of important fish and other wildlife.

The long blades of grass are often covered with tiny marine plants and animals. Here, these creatures find habitat, protection from predators, nursery grounds, food and oxygen. Explore patches of spatterdock and learn what birds and other animals use this fascinating native aquatic plant.

*Encyclopedia of Symbols, O’Connell, Airey and Craze, 2009
www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org
Gardening Through the Ages, Penelope Hobhouse
Lake Papakeechie, Charles A. Sudlow, 1912