Photos by Andrea Rugg
Off a quiet street in the western suburbs is a quieter cul-de-sac. At its shaded and circular end, you’ll hear black-capped chickadees singing to their sweeties. And you might hear a shovel tending a garden plot if Lynn Messman is home and not working on a customer’s flower beds. “People ask me, ‘How can you work in other people’s gardens and then come home and do more gardening?’” Messman says. “I just love it all. I like to sit and look at my flowers and koi pond, but I really like the work.”
Owner and CFO (that’s Chief Flower Officer) of Gardens by Lynn, Messman, who’s also a master gardener, fell in love with the product of gardening long before realizing her passion for the process. “I have vivid memories of my grandma’s white fence with bright pink and purple flowers,” she says, reflecting on her love of landscaping. “I learned later these were roses, delphiniums, and gladiolas. At the time, I just loved how they looked and how she cared for it all.”
What drives Messman now is “the ability to create and the good mental challenge of a small garden space,” she says. Pointing to a small plot in the backyard nearby, she describes the seasonality and mix of textures and colors. “The irises come up in the spring, and the geraniums, then purple and pink spiderwort,” she explains. “There are two different types of junipers and black snake root, plus a globe thistle near softer things like the hosta and the peonies.”
In 2018, Messman added the koi pond with its waterfall. “I planted cannas, and there are water lilies,” she says. “It’s so relaxing for me.” Hostas and a few perennials embed and soften the surrounding boulder border. “In the fall when not much is blooming, I will add pots with mums and kale. I love the color of the kale; it’s great decoration, but I don’t eat it.” As for the fish? She overwinters them in a heated aquarium.
Farther from the house, about a dozen bird houses line the forest edge. One has a sign saying, “Bird Nesting Materials.” Messman puts twigs and soft natural scraps in there for the birds to use.
And just as we were wrapping up our conversation, Messman stops, turns, and
says, “Listen, you can hear them now—the wrens and chickadees.”
