Amid neatly mowed yards with attractive foundation plantings, Candy Underwood’s home at 708 Sycamore draws the eye with its very contrast to those around it.

It has been selected as the May Yard of the Month for Mineola’s Fannie Marchman Garden Club. 

Candy bought her Mineola home in 2004, while she was still teaching high school English. She’s always loved flowers, and a passion for gardening runs in her family.  After retiring 12 years ago, she found that she had time to indulge her craving for more blooms. She began by removing the grass in her front and back yards, installing foot paths with pavers and creating a riot of colorful blossoms, reminiscent of an English garden.

The outcome is stunning. Poppies, gladiolas and black-eyed Susans compete for space with roses, lilies and dozens of other perennials and flowering shrubs. An arbor is twined and draped with roses, and perky violets peek out from around the paving stones. She loves bulbs and looks forward to their emergence each spring. A large crape myrtle helps shade the more tender plants and birds, bees and butterflies abound.

Candy is a self-taught gardener and says she makes it up as she goes along with trial and error. She never stresses if a plant doesn’t survive. She’ll just pop in something else that usually succeeds just fine. She doesn’t plant herbs, but loves garlic plants for their blooms.

Perpetual weeding doesn’t faze her. It’s cooler in the morning and the birds are singing, so she enjoys it.

She says gardening is a cure for boredom, as there’s always something to do or appreciate in the flowerbeds.

Her natural creativity has resulted in a beautiful, delightful escape that’s just the way she likes it.

And her wide smile tells you that she’s a happy, contented gardener.