In the Carolina’s, August can be a time of weak and needy annuals, hot and humid days, and slug-eaten hostas. However this is not the case at Wyatt Lefever’s garden, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. A group of the Gaston County Master Gardeners recently visited Lefever’s garden which has acres of shade gardening at its best. Actually, the garden has an upper canopy of tall trees with an under story of “garden rooms” defined by color, texture and shape.
Even in early August and late July, Wyatt Lefever’s garden is resplendent in the many colors of green, especially the hostas bred by Lefever himself. Some of these gigantic leaves reminded me of plants thought to have been present in the time of huge herbaceous dinosaurs. As a form of reference, I placed my arm next to a hosta leaf and discovered to my amazement that it measured the length of my arm from the wrist to the elbow. Three of Lefever’s hybrids include the following: “Dragon Eye” with gray-green leaves, “Frost Giant” with its blue-green leaves with a bright yellow margin, and “Lime Smoothie” with its undulating leaves of waxy green centers and lime green borders.
I was pleased to see many “voodoo lilies” in Lefever’s garden. This most unusual plant scientific name is Sauromatum gut Tatum. This plant is known for its flowers that stink of rotting flesh. We gardeners missed out on the bloom cycle but identified the plant by its distinctive green and brown mottled stalk and the tropical leaves. Wyatt Lefever is also known for his hybridization of prize-winning daylilies which total over 100 varieties. I examined his online catalog and discovered a real beauty called “Forsyth Christmas Celebration” in hues of bright red and green.
Mr Lefever recently retired from the Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery where he perfected the hybrid “butterfly koi” known for its elongated dorsal, ventral, pectoral and caudle fins. This hybridization is a cross breed between some somber colored koi with the extended fins and the lovely bright koi. The effect is magical and we master gardeners were treated to “feeding” of the koi where we saw too many varied fish to even begin to describe.
The koi pond of large proportions is surrounded by unusual evergreens in beautiful shades of blue, gray and pine green again, too numerous to name in this column Wyatt Lefever’s gardens were indeed spectacular and left many of us Master Gardeners with dreams of what could be accomplished by one man and lots of work with a little help from some fancy fish.
If you have any gardening questions, call the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Services at 704.922.0301 to speak with a Master Gardener
Cindy Hovis
cindy@gastonalive.com
