It was perfecting timing that gave the Adopt-a-Plots the dedicated gardeners Deb and Geof Wyght. Mount Lookout residents, they often found themselves in the gardens on one of their walks. A long time admirer of the gardens, Deb often told herself that when she retired, she would want to have a plot or two to herself. As luck would have it, when retirement came in 2009, so did the availability of a few garden plots.

But then her luck changed. After picking out the garden with the curve, accentuated by inlaid bricks, Deb broke her arm and gardening became quite the struggle. Fortunately, Geof was there to lend a hand. Despite the rather challenging first year, Deb and Geof kept on with gardening in the park.

“We enjoy making the park prettier, and sharing gardening with the park visitors, whether we see them or not. We hope our garden brings joy to others that visit the gardens. We use the Herb Garden for education. If I’m there working I interact with the visitors and point out various herbs and often there are swallowtail caterpillars on the fennel, so I always stop people and show them. Plus, I get a lot of questions about the plants when we are up there and I enjoy sharing our love of plants,” Deb shares.

Gardeners can do with their plots as they like. They can keep the inherited plants, or start a design from scratch. For Deb, having a nice stand of Forget-Me-Nots, was a plus. “They self-seed in the Ault garden with ease, but I have trouble getting them established at home. It’s the flower of my college sorority, so having them in the Ault garden means a lot to me, and I love the dainty blue flowers that come in early spring.”

All the volunteers garden in Ault because they love the park and mostly they adore gardening. But ask any one of them what they enjoy most about gardening in the park and they are most apt to reply, “All of the thank-yous from visitors. Sometimes I think they think I am the only gardener when they thank me for all of the work I do keeping the park looking so nice,” Deb says with a laugh. “I try and tell them I just do these two little areas.”

Gardening with a Past

Ault Park is steeped in history. Its past has shaped it to what it has become: a place of beauty that fell on hard times to be saved and made grande again by countless volunteers. Often gardeners have a rich history, a story as to how they came to gardening.

“My mom and dad both loved to garden so we grew up with it, my older sister and brother both also love to garden. To this day we exchange plants and knowledge. My herb garden is named for my dad, Russell’s Legacy. I remember he was always digging in the yard when I was little. I didn’t realize until later that the pile he had way in the back was a compost pile. He knew in the 1960s it was good to compost. My mom lived to be 95 and still had blooming African violets in her room until the day she died. My sister, brother and I each took one home,” Deb shares.