I discovered my love of gardening with my Grandmother. Now, you need to know my Grandmother was a powerhouse—a tiny woman who wheeled great respect. Alexandra (Billie) Anderson, known to all as Mrs. Anderson, ran Ten Gables Resort and Golf Course in Sundridge, Ontario, for many years, all by herself. Long before Women’s Lib, Grandmother was a businesswoman, a mother, and a wife. Go, Grandma!

I loved my time spent there with her. There was no getting around my Grandmother. She ruled! Stand up straight, and be proud of being tall. Don’t sit on the counters; counters are for glasses. Respect the family – she was all about family and tradition. There were strict rules on what was to be served to her guests, how it was to be served, how a bed was made, and how to treat a guest, and yes, guests were treated like royalty, and they became family. A past guest once told me how nervous she was to meet my Grandmother. This lovely girl had been invited to Ten Gables to dine with her fiancée’s family, and she was more anxious about meeting Mrs. Anderson than meeting her new family. Grandmother had that effect on people.
For me, she was a wonderful woman who shared her knowledge of life. Okay, she scared me a bit too!
One of my earliest memories of gardening with grandmother was planting pansies in the front garden. Trays of beautifully coloured pansies sat out just waiting to go in the ground. We were surround by all the pretty faces of purple, yellow, and red pansies. I was so excited to think ‘I was old enough’ to help with this task. I was only six or seven at the time but Grandmother took the time to show me how to get the pansies and roots out of the plastic container, gently pinching the sides until the pansy roots dislodged. Of course, she made it look easy. Me, I pinched, then pulled and ended up with a handful of flower and no roots. It didn’t matter. This rootless pansy was planted along with all the expertly planted pansies of my grandmother. Of course there was not chance mine would grow without roots, however not one word was said. I remember feeling such joy. I would check out those pansies every time we came to visit. I’m sure my pansies had been replaced when they started to wilt, however I felt the magic in watching something I thought I had planted, something I had been part of, Grow. I believe this was my beginning as a gardener. I could feeling the Magic of the Flowers.
Ten Gables was magical in the winter. Fields of white, fluffy snow covered the golf course, and the beautiful white house with the bright red shutters stood out on top of the hill. It always felt like ‘coming home’. It wasn’t just an ‘in town house’ – the ones that look much the same as the next – Ten Gables was the ‘majestic house on the top of the hill’. I loved mornings at Ten Gables. On winter mornings, the bare stems of the French lilacs just outside the kitchen window would be filled with chickadees. Grandmother fed them sunflower seeds through the winter months, so they kept coming. Inside the house, in the bay window of the family dining room, sat the most beautiful African Violets of every shape and colour. Purple violets, ruffled ones, red ones, pink ones, all with the silkiest, velvet-soft leaves. I loved to touch them. Grandmother had a knack for growing violets. It’s taken me years to piece together ‘her African Violet growing Magic.’
Ten Gables had a summer kitchen. The summer kitchen was scary in the winter; it was closed off from the main house, dark, cold, and very fragrant. As a child, I wouldn’t go into the summer kitchen without a wingman; it was so scary. And the smell. It smelled like shit. Yes, I mean shit. Only later in life did I learn that my grandmother steeped Sheep Manure Tea in the summer kitchen during the winter. Now, if you don’t know what Sheep Manure Tea is, it’s a 10-gallon bucket filled with half sheep shit, then topped off with water. It has an odour you can’t forget. This Sheep Manure Tea was my grandmother’s secret to her ‘African Violet Growing Magic’. Stinky or not, it worked.
As soon as I was old enough, I started working at Ten Gables. Now, you would think being part of the family would mean I would hold a high-ranking position. Something worthy of the family standing. Nope! I started in the basement doing the laundry. I was promoted to dishwasher during my first summer. I guess I had proved my worth as a basement-dwelling laundry person, and when the big chance came to move up, I did. Literally, I started working in the upstairs kitchen. In truth, the dishwashing person quit, and I got the job. I can see your mind working. Dishwasher, not so bad when compared to the basement laundry person…however there was ‘no dishwashing machine’. I was the dishwashing machine—three wash sinks filled with steaming hot water, soap suds, and tons of drying racks. But I was moving up in the world!!
Along with the laundry girl slash dishwasher role, I was granted the position of Flower Arranger. Okay, I was voluntold about this new position. My grandmother made flower arranging look easy; I thought, “How bad could this be”? There weren’t just a few flower arrangements around the house; Grandmother believed her home should be filled with flowers. Not just outside, but inside too. Large flower arrangements in the living room, smaller arrangements on all the dining room tables, flowers to say ‘welcome’ at the front door, an arrangement in the large family dining room, and even something for the front office. Colourful arrangements of flowers in all sizes, shapes, and forms were everywhere. It was my job to make them look inspiring. With scissors in hand, I went twice a week to cut flowers. And there were so many flowers to be had. Fragrant cedar and lacy ferns created the foundation for the beautiful flowers to rest in. The tall, stately Snapdragons; the stunning white sphere blooms of Annabelle Hydrangea; the sweet smiling faces of pretty Pansies; fragrant noble French Lilac blooms; towering Gladiolas stems and flowers in late summer; pretty annual Sweet Peas with their cheerful, colourful balloon-shaped blooms and swirling tendrils; the bright yellow and golds heads of a summer Marigold; crisp red, lacelike annual Geranium; the magenta purple tissue-paper ruffles of shrub roses; and beautiful shapely petunias.
“While I didn’t understand then why “I had to make all the flower arrangements,” I’ve come to learn flowers have their magic. My grandmother passed along some of her flower magic to me, something for which I will forever be grateful.
I truly believe, in My Grandmother’s Garden, I Found the Magic!

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Beautifully written and now we all know just how you got involved in gardening and a wonderful tribute to your grandmother. She would be so proud!
Thank you Ruth. Grandma did have a way with flowers! Love to all. Lexi
What a beautiful story. Grandma sounded like an amazing woman.
Thanks Joan. Grandma was an amazing lady.
We we’re lucky to have those grand people in our lives. They helped us lay our paths. They planted the seeds that will continue to let them grow.
Your Grandma will be smiling , last summer I started brewing compost tea outside right behind her kitchen. We use it in the gardens and even the putting greens. It also can have quite the odor. : ) We love reading any stories regarding the Ten Gables. There is an amazing history here. Mike and Shannon Owners of The Ridge Golf Club at Ten Gables.
Thanks Shannon and Mike. I’m so glad TG is in good hands!
Wow, Lexi, that was so beautifully written. What a wonderful tribute to your grandmother and Ten Gables. I remember the summer my sister, Gillian, and mom worked there…special memories. Thanks Lexi.
Great tribute Lexi. I also worked at TG the summers I was 14, 15 and 16 back in the early 1960s. I got the job of arranging the flowers for the dining room tables. The cutting of the cedar and flowers sure brought back memories. I did waitressing for two summers and was Girl Friday for one summer. In fact Lexi, I remember you sitting in a high chair at your parents’ table while I waitressed. Your grandma taught me to always turn the knife blade inwards when setting the table. During my childhood my Mom used to do the spring cabin cleaning and I loved to go there with her on Saturdays. Once I took a pet duck with me and we played on the golf course. Your Grandpa laughed at the antics of the little duck. Thanks for sharing Lexi.