Year-round color in a Lansdale garden

The “sun” garden glitters by day and glows by night.

Interspersed among phlox, catmint, purple Japanese irises, and red bee balm are sparkling blue and yellow glass flowers and solar-powered globes that light up in the dark.

On their almost-one-acre property in Lansdale, Gail Jurikson-Rhodes and Gates Rhodes have “planted” dozens of glass ornaments among the shrubs and flowers.

Blue glass spindles rise above green-and-white-leafed Lamium. Orange glass flowers bloom among orange daylilies. Blue bottles fill a wrought iron wine rack hung over a fence. Flat circles of colored glass are scattered around paving stones.

The expansive sun garden, almost the size of a Little League Baseball field, gets more light than Gail’s other tree-shaded garden “rooms.” She has learned by “trial and error” that some plants, such as bishop’s-weed, astilbe, pink-tinged fern, and white-blossomed Incrediball hydrangeas, will thrive in less light and even in damp ground. Glass ornaments add color to textured green plants growing in deep shade.

Azaleas bloom in the spring in a sunnier space that in the summer is filled with butterfly-loving milkweed. The property has been designated as a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

Gail grows mostly perennial native plants and does not use chemicals. She adds red begonias and other annuals for color.

While Gail cultivates, Gates cuts the lawn, cleans up, and assists with two-person tasks. “She lets me push the wheelbarrow and rake leaves,” he said.

And there are a lot to rake. The couple planted maples and oaks, and “bunnies planted others,” Gail said. Near a patch of raspberries and blackberries, she nurtures saplings in her grown son’s childhood sandbox. Shredded leaves are used for mulch.

Every year Gail and Gates purchase a balled pine tree they decorate in their home for Christmas and later plant outside.

They love listening to songbirds drawn to the trees and to fifty birdhouses scattered around the garden rooms. But one particular bird is unwelcome. Netting covers the koi pond to keep out a marauding blue heron.

The birdhouses and some glass ornaments were purchased from garden centers. Gail also finds outdoor art in antique shops and craft stores. She nestled a clay, turquoise bird in a nest of sticks. The stone cherub reading a book is an homage to her profession.

Gail was a reading specialist in North Penn School District and then was supervisor of language arts in the district before retiring. Gates was a photographer and videographer at the University of Pennsylvania for 38 years before his retirement.

The couple met as students at Penn State and married in 1977.

A year later they purchased the two-story house in Lansdale. The structure had been built in the early 19th century as a barn. It was converted to a residence in 1948.

Gail and Gates replaced the asbestos siding with Hardie board and added a family room. When their son, Jaron, was a teenager, they converted the two-car garage into a second family room where he could entertain friends. The home has two baths and three bedrooms on the second floor.

A talented watercolorist and stained-glass artist, Gail fashioned three peach-colored glass flowers outside near a bird bath. Inside, she made a stained-glass door panel and transom and a window in the powder room. In the living areas, there are several lamps with Tiffany-style glass shades.

Gail and Gates’ became enamored of art glass after visiting an exhibit in Jerusalem by glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. They later visited Chihuly’s workshop in Seattle and have seen his sculptures at museums around the country including his 21-foot Flame of Liberty at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia.

The couple’s blue and green Murano glass chandelier over the front door in the enclosed porch is similar to works by Chihuly. The fixture was purchased in San Francisco.

By design, there are wonderful garden views from every window in the house. When flowers fade, Gail said, new ones take their place. In the fall, trees and shrubs turn red and gold.

Even in winter though, when trees and shrubs are bare, there will be color and sparkle in the garden. Most of the glass ornaments stay outside year-round.

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