It was Kim’s picture of this flower that got my attention. It only opens at night, once and then dies.
“I came out when my plant was blooming, I shouted at 10 o’clock and 12 o’clock and two o’clock because I couldn’t get enough of it,” says Owens.
The plant is called Queen of the night but Owens also calls her Betty Jo. In fact most of her plants have names for good reason.
“I name my plants from the people that gave them to me,” says Owens.
Some of those people are still around others have passed on, like Kim’s mom.
“I was inspired by mom, my mom, to love color and plants,” explained Owens.
Kim inherited her mom’s bright red Amaryllis and they all over her garden.
“I have so many sets and so that feels like a piece of your mom. It’s a piece of my mom and I can give a piece of my mom away to folks,” said Owens.
All of her plants are special and some are inspiring, like this pink Bougainvillea plant named Michael is one of her favorites. It’s named after Kim’s friend who has cancer.
“Michael has been fighting cancer for almost 10 years. And this really kind of signifies that, you know, we never give up. You know, this thing froze down to nothing last year, and we had, our three days of 29 degrees at night. And look at how beautiful it is, you know, with its flowers getting ready to unfurl,” said Owen.
Kim calls her backyard the Owens Garden Retreat. She’s lived here for 37 years years and she appreciates what she has, never taking her view for granted.
“You don’t have to live on the water. you don’t have to have a multimillion dollar house to find beauty where you are in. So I try to embody that in my lifestyle and the way that I take care of my plants and our little house. Every day, every day. There’s new beauty every day. Just you have to take time to look at it. Look for it,” says Owens.
It felt like her yard is full of the people Kim loves and that is comforting and quite inspirational for her and hopefully for all of us as well.