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BYE’S BOTANICAL BACKYARD: Sikeston woman enjoys longtime gardening hobby
SIKESTON — Sikeston native Teresa Bye has a longstanding interest in plants and gardening, and through the years, her yard has grown into a stunning botanical garden.
Bye’s gardening is a big hobby for her, and the 71-year-old said she’s been doing it since she and her husband bought the house 36 years ago.
“At our other house, I always had just a pot or two of geranium flowers, but when we moved here, we had a big backyard so I was able to plant them in the ground and experiment more,” Bye said.
According to Bye, when she first started gardening years ago, she knew very little about it or plants.
“It was all a learning process,” Bye said. “Over the years, when I see a flower or plant and I like it, I will try it out, plant it, and see if it works. If it works, then great, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
Bye said she had never researched gardening; everything she knew came from experience.
Bye mentioned she and a few of her friends will go flower shopping together, which she enjoys. Bye said she now has many different types of flowers in her backyard.
“When I was still working, I wasn’t able to do it as much and could only do it on the weekends,” Bye said. “I retired 10 and a half years ago and now have been able to spend a lot more time on it.”
According to Bye, every year she begins working on her flower garden by clearing away all of the leaves and weeds before planting.
“I purchase no flowers until all the flower beds and everything are cleaned up,” Bye said. “This year I was a little late on getting started due to the weather, but I typically will begin cleanup before the Dogwood-Azalea Festival in April,” Bye said. “About two weeks later, then, I will start the planting.”
Bye said she has a large variety of flowers in her flower garden.
Among the choices of plants and flowers that can be found in her backyard include: portulaca, hibiscus, summer phlox, lilies, daylilies, million bells, zinnias, snap dragons, marigolds, black-eyed Susans, irises, mandevilla/rock trumpet, spiderworts, coneflowers, angelonia, ferns, petunias, rose of Sharon, verbena, salvia, hollyhocks and many more.
Bye explained why she enjoyed planting flowers so much.
“It’s relaxing; it’s good therapy,” Bye said. “You can’t be stressed when you’re out in nature; it’s just God’s handy work and is peaceful for me.”
Bye said she also enjoys having her granddaughter help her with her gardening.
According to Bye, she has a lot of bees and birds visiting her flowers and plants every day.
“The bees and the birds really help you out more than someone realizes,” Bye said.
“Many people don’t like bees, but I don’t try to fight the bees at all. Me and the bees co-exist.”
Bye said that when she is outside working with the flowers, the bees may buzz and bother her, but she will simply move to another location and continue working.
“The bees have never attacked me,” Bye said. “One way the bees help me is they plant other stuff for me. There was a plant that popped up a few years ago that I didn’t plant and it was a pleasant surprise and it had to of come from a bee or bird.”
Bye said, sometimes bees or birds will carry a seed from a plant or flower on their bodies or in their mouths and drop it in her backyard, causing other flowers and plants to grow.
Bye added bees are important because they pollinate plants, which is the process of transferring pollen from one flower to another.
Bye said she is extremely grateful to God that she is still able to work with her flowers.