Derby garden tradition

Each year on Derby day, while everyone else is at Churchill Downs or getting ready for a party, we rework our flower garden. Eric, a friend of ours who was born with great garden Karma, leads us through the process. He brings plants, designs the layout and assigns our jobs – dig, weed, hoe, etc. My job is always the same – I haul compost (horse manure) for Michelangelo, 16 wheelbarrows this year.

There’s no way to show a garden in a single photo. Eric chooses colors, textures, delicacies, and boldness. I can’t show the whole picture, so I’ll show just one flower.

Any good garden attracts life, but a thistle seed feeder helps - one of our feeder's most common visitors are American Goldfinchs - (Carduelis tristis). They are small birds - only about 5 inches long – sometimes known as the Wild Canary. The males are a stunning yellow and black.