Dragonfly Garden

Region 13

Dragonfly–A Collector’s Garden
When John and Susan Antonetti moved into their Bryant home thirty years ago, the yard consisted of one large wild rose and one long, sad wisteria vine. Using pass-along plants from the avid gardeners in his family, John began to carve the yard with daylilies, shrubs and sapling gifts from his grandmother, aunt and mother and father. With three young children chasing dragonflies in the yard around him, John slowly expanded the plantings—often with “end of the season” nursery bargains—and a plan began to develop. The crepe myrtle allee that serves as the entrance to the backyard, began as a dozen $1 clearance pots from a local big-box store.
When John began to travel for his consulting job in education, he visited as many gardens and daylily farms as he could across the country. He would often fly home from California, Kentucky, or Virginia carrying a potted plant or garden ornament in his lap. The garden has benefited from his traveling and love of collecting. When he and Susan returned from an anniversary trip to Italy in 2014, John went immediately to Lowe’s to buy paint for the garden’s stucco walls in shades that recaptured the vivid colors they had seen in Florence and Perugia.
Divided into a series of garden rooms, the yard features an English garden, an Italian parterre, a Japanese water garden, a labyrinth, a birdhouse garden and a Balinese hut. These varied areas are connected by ribbons of lawn and are home to a large collection of plants. In addition to over 600 daylily cultivars, John has planted 20 rose varieties, 70 types of hostas, 60 herbaceous and tree peonies, and more than 100 clematis vines.
Like all gardeners, John is always thinking about the next project. With an entrance that features an old gate from India, John is currently completing a Hobbit Hole playhouse and a rock castle in the “Storybook Garden.”