Soon after we married and moved from Walnut Creek CA to a townhouse in Potomac MD, Deni and I both became interested in ornamental gardening, starting with azaleas. Deni quickly became a skillful, dedicated and tireless gardener, with a keen sense of design and colors.

We soon filled our townhouse lot, front and back, and moved to a 1/2 acre lot in Potomac MD. Eventually filling that up as well, we then moved to a 5 acre lot in Darnestown MD in 1981. Our last move was to a 2 acre wooded lot in Hendersonville NC on her birthday, May 4, 1996, where we actively gardened 1 acre, with a 1/2 mile of winding trails.

In each garden, we both had active roles in planning, plant selection and planting. Deni's specialty was weeding, which were few and far between as a result of her efforts. Our styles were complementary: Deni was goal-oriented and focused, while I am task-oriented and flit around the garden like a butterfly as a new task appears. We collaborated well on planning and planting: I dug most of the holes, and Deni did most of the planting. First we would carefully decide where to put the plants, and I became especially careful as I learned the consequences of putting a plant in the wrong place: the "plant shuffle".

That would happen at least once each year, usually after bloom time, when a plant would be seen to be in the wrong place with regard to size, texture or color: Deni would announce this plant needed to be "there". Since there was already a plant "there", first we would have to find a new place for it . . . and so on, and so on. Sometimes I would grumble, and sometimes it took a while, but with Deni's superb design sense, the garden was always the better for it.