Story and Photos By Patty Blackburn
Bud and his bougainvillea and periwinkles
There are many well-kept, beautifully landscaped yards in this area and one that I noticed recently is located at 124 4th Avenue North in Lewisburg.
While driving by one day, I saw a gentlemen in the yard at this address. He had on his gardening gloves, holding a rake. I stopped and introduced myself and we chatted about his beautiful flowers.
John “Bud” Adair certainly has a green thumb. You can see proof of this in the photo of Bud standing by his beautiful, crimson bougainvillea. This bougainvillea is thriving in the circular rock flower bed. This plant is versatile and requires full sun and is drought tolerant. There were so many days of dry weather, but being drought tolerant, the plant was not harmed. The only drawback is the plant has thorns and if not careful, one will pierce a finger. Surrounding the bougainvillea are a variety of colors of periwinkles or vincas which complement the bougainvillea.
Bud’s mandevilla, caladiums, and periwinkles
Bud also has a pink mandevilla, climbing on a trellis at the side of his house. Caladiums, the big green and red heart shaped plants, are planted behind the mandevilla. Periwinkles are growing around in the front. The mandevilla and caladiums are tropical plants that do well in full sun and the caladiums and periwinkles are great border flowers.
Bud stated that he enjoys working in his yard and was glad to see the rain falling a couple of weeks ago, which really helped his grass and flowers. “If it wasn’t just so hot,” Bud said.
He told me he picked up a newspaper every week then remembered he had something to show me. He went into the house and brought out an old receipt that he found in a house at Blue Creek. It’s a receipt from 1902, showing payment for a newspaper subscription in the amount of $1.25. That’s a long time ago!
If you want to see these flowers, drive by his house and see how beautiful they are. See if you agree with me about Bud Adair having a natural talent for growing plants, especially flowers.
