Timmy Hinds among his beautiful plants. Click to enlarge.
It’s hard to notice the gardener at the Fairyland Club because of the abundance of blooms. The profusion of Stella D’oro lilies are the perfect foil for candy pink roses and lace-topped Spirea. Willowy indigo Larkspur sways in the breeze at the upper edge of the parking lot, and a mass of violet and mulberry and cerise blossoms from Butterfly bush billows down over the asphalt entrance, and all this is visible before you’ve even parked the car.
As you meander down the stone steps to the club through a bank of Azalea, Rhododendron and ferns, you might spy Timmy Hinds hunkered down over a wheelbarrow, or intent on his plants. Usually hidden behind a wide-brimmed hat, Timmy has been tending plants for 38 years, 14 of them at the Fairyland Club.
Under his gimlet eye, the barren bank behind the club has been transformed to a vision worthy of garden club tours. A terraced xeriscape, much thought went into the design of the garden. “The least drought-tolerant plants are at the top of the slope, and the most drought-tolerant are at the bottom. The garden actually makes use of the run-off from the roof of the club," said Timmy. Bee Balm, Black Eyed Susan, Ox Eye Daisy and daylilies sway in fragrant masses over parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Seriously.
“We used the existing rock in the bank to make the terraces,” Timmy said proudly. “We didn’t have to pay for a single rock.”
There is a flat walkway between the two slopes so that Chef Brad Grafton and office manager Hedi Lee can gather fresh herbs for the kitchen, and fresh flowers for the dining room tables, respectively. Planted with creeping thyme, a ‘steppable’, the path releases a spicy aroma, freshening the air with every step.
At the edge of the bluff, cantaloupe size sky blue blossoms of hydrangea catch your eye. And hold it.
“I rooted those last summer,” said Timmy. “Didn’t spend a penny on them.”
Known for his budgeting skills, Timmy is the king of propagation. He has set up a growing room, complete with a misting system and grow lights, in a wedge of unfinished basement in the bowels of the club.
It’s hard to believe the plethora of brightly colored perennials and blooming shrubs and thriving herbs didn’t cost a fortune. It seems like the Fairyland Club got it’s moneys worth with Timmy Hinds. All the way around.
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How to Propagate Hydrangea at Home
1. Take 6” cuttings with at least 2 sets of double leaves. Cut just above the leave nodes on the mother plant. Strip the leaves, careful of the tiny leaf budlets.
2. Dip end in water, then in rooting compound. Shake a little out, do not stick twig in jar because of contamination. Fill 4” pot with ½ peat moss and ½ builders sand (NOT playground sand). Poke hole with pen and carefully stick twig in hole and press peat mixture around.
3. Set pots outside in shade and mist every morning for 15 minutes with a light spray. The medium should be moist, not soggy.
4. Leave in cups for 8 weeks, until roots come through bottom of pot, then move to 1-gallon containers, keeping pots in shade with mistings.
5. Plant in fall.