On the North side of Magnolia near the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks there is a fork in the road with a sign pointing to Land's End. Gretchen Pfeffer, a retired seafood seller, has created a sanctuary at this edge of Magnolia unlike any other.
Pfeffer's front garden is magnificent, with a Japanese maple tree and rhododendrons lining the stairway to her house. The path leads along the house to the backyard. The yard is open with grass and surrounded by a backdrop of trees and beautiful stone landscaping.
Pfeffer's garden was not always this breathtaking. When she first moved into the house in 1992 it was only dirt, trees and blackberry weeds. Over the years Pfeffer has developed her garden into a peaceful relaxing space.
She believes plants to be "very healing and flourishing with life." She uses her garden to pray for and help heal the sick. A few years back she had a grotto built which houses a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes and candles for prayer. She has many visitors come see her grotto and has had bishops and priests visit from all over the world.
The grotto is enveloped by beautiful flowers and directly behind it towers a Jasmine Holly Tree that exudes an overwhelmingly sweet fragrance. At night the garden is glowing with candlelight and blue and white lights surrounding the grotto.
Pfeffer's garden is blooming with Dianthus daisies and primroses bursting with yellows, oranges, fuchsias and pinks. There are tall orange tiger lilies and white angelic statues holding glow under the stars.
In the beginning of spring her favorite flowers are the tulips that she buys from her good friend Hank Degode from Degode Farms in Washington. The tulips surround the childlike, angelic statues which are "for the sick children around the world," Pfeffer said.
Pfeffer also uses her love for gardening and compassion for others by working with St. Margaret's of Scotland Catholic Church in Magnolia.
She contributes many flowers to the Church's garden from her own plants or from a local store. St. Margaret's inspirational gardens, which are now in bloom with many beautiful flowers and shrubs, are cared for by Pfeffer, parishioners, and Rev. Stan Michaleks.
Pfeffer has a true passion for plants and gardens. She's loved it "ever since I was a young child growing up in Los Angeles," she said. Her father was a plant lover, too. He taught her all about unusual and interesting plants. Their garden and house was well known and is on the National Historic Register in Los Angeles.
While in Los Angeles, Pfeffer and her family spent a lot of time at Lotusland, a well known 50-acre botanical garden near Santa Barbara.
The owner Ganna Walska, a renowned opera singer in Europe, was Pfeffer's good family friend from Poland. Madame Ganna's gardens were an inspiration to Pfeffer and she has had a green thumb ever since.
Pfeffer is amazed by the affects her garden and grotto has had on people and knows that it will continue to help people.
Whether through healing or relaxation, Pfeffer's garden is definitely one of Magnolia's more spiritual places.[[In-content Ad]]
