St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 212

Gardens Stoplight Delight Vivian Gellman's Garden Brightens A Busy Corner k--'-- 1 Strangers leave notes for Vivian Gellman, saying that it's a pleasure to catch a red stoplight in front of her house. The day before Valentine's Day, one fan she's never met mailed her colorful photos of the garden shot last fall. By Patricia Rice Photos by Scott Dine Of the Post-Dispatch Staff AT PARTIES, Vivian Gellman's been introduced as "the flower lady." Her garden on the southeast corner of McKnight and Ladue roads in Ladue is an ever-changing display of flowers from late March to October. Strangers leave notes for her, saying that it's a pleasure to catch a red stoplight in front of her house. The day before Valentine's Day, one fan she's never met mailed her colorful photos of the garden that the fan shot last fall.

Unlike so many area gardeners Waiting to buy bedding plants this spring, Gellman started most of her annuals from seed. She began them under grow-lights on metal racks in her warm basement in January. basement, where she starts many flowers from seeds The garden began by accident literally. Eighteen years ago, a woman lost control of her car outside the house, knocking down several junipers that had provided Vivian and Herman P. Gellman privacy from the traffic.

The driver's insurance company paid $250. pink and orange colors are still bright in August, when more delicate flowers are finished. (She cautions others to chose zinnia seeds from catalogs that sell seed true to the colors.) By the time her zinnias droop, her marigolds, asters and perennial mums have stolen the autumn spotlight. Vivian Gellman in her Her basket of fan mail in her front hall shows that pass-ersby enjoy every season. In early spring, the color show begins as medium pink, hot pink and white tulips well over 1,000 of them dance in the breeze.

Large azalea bushes blooming in pink and white soon follow. Then the pink and purple rhododendrons bloom. As those fade, red poppies and pink peonies and white iris draw attention. Then scores of rose bushes, mostly pink and white, pop out and keep producing some years until Thanksgiving. By Memorial Day her white and red lilies begin.

By mid-June the white daisies take over in beds where spring flowers have withered. In recent years, Gellman has expanded her summer perennials to include the tall, willowy Connecticut Yankee delphinium and pink and white phlox. Many area gardeners give up on flowers by late June when days get much hotter. "Zinnias, daisies and tropical hibiscus love the heat," Gellman said. She often has zinnias in bloom by Mother's Day, and their hot yellow, Vr 1 ABOVE: A bed of violet Blitz hybrid imatiens and hostas.

RIGHT: Pink and red zinnias contrast with firs and other greenery. gji. fxzL i 18 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Magazine, Sunday, March 25, 1990.