Old Town Daphne eclectic gardener extraordinaire Kelley Bell Phillips has lived in her new home for only nine months, but her lush garden area tells another story of a history of long-established plants that thrive through multiple generations.

Kelley, who has retired from a couple of previous careers, including one as co-owner of radio station WABB, now spends her days working part-time as an office manager and indulging her gardening passion of transplanting treasures from her mother's house next door.

"I am definitely an eclectic gardener," Kelley shares. "I will try anything, even if they say it can't grow here, and it usually does."

Kelley definitely inherited her green thumb from her mother, Dea Stapleton Gay, who dearly loved gardening and constantly advised her daughter as she began establishing her own gardens.

"I was lucky enough to share supper every night with my mother before she passed," says Kelley."We would eat supper, then naturally gravitate toward the garden, where my mother gave me never ending lessons and advice — 'pull this out, pinch that back' — and I learned well. My mother grew up on a farm during the Depression years, but they were never hungry since they always worked a garden. She grew up loving gardening and I have, too."

Kelley's back yard was previously dominated by sagebrush, but she has cleared it and is now relocating favorite plants from her mother's yard into hers.

Kelley's welcoming garden boasts a wide variety of not-often-seen specimens, including massive staghorn ferns started by her mother, several varieties of lovely flowering gingers, Australian tree ferns, the brilliantly orange-flowered Royal Poinciana, native to Mexico, many species of palm, including a Madagascar, which blooms only after 15 years, native azaleas, many lily varieties and old homestead roses which have been gathered over the years.

Kelley also nurtures many fruit trees in her expansive garden, including several citrus varieties such as key limes, blood oranges, grapefruit, tangelos, and lemons. She has grown 15 giant papaya trees, eight fig trees, several banana varieties, mayhaws, pear and pomegranate trees, olive varieties and blackberry and blueberry bushes.

"I will try anything," Kelley shares with a smile. "I always test the limits. If I lose something, I start over. I even plan to grow my own coffee, vanilla beans, and black pepper."

No doubt, with her optimistic outlook and persistence, this adventurous gardener will succeed.

Along with the Royal Poinciana, Kelley has greatly indulged her love of staghorn ferns, initiated by her mother.

The staghorn fern that Kelley loves so much, originated in tropical Australia and New Guinea, where it grows on trees in filtered light and thrives in areas with high humidity, like our Baldwin County in the summer. It can reach a size of 3 to 4 feet, providing a showy display mounted on a slab of driftwood or displayed on a fence or wall, all of which abound in Kelley's yard.

The staghorn fern's foliage consists of several fronds, which provide the illusion of real stag antlers.

As Kelley saunters through her garden and starts weeding, moving and re-establishing the plants she loves the most, a legion of dogs and cats are always underfoot.

"I don't grow plants — I grow dogs!" she says laughingly.

She shares both her home and garden with four dogs, four cats and two birds.

This talented grower of both edible and ornamental garden magic also loves cooking and canning the produce she gathers.

The deliciously sweet bounty includes heirloom tomatoes, peppers, snow peas, squash, okra, lettuces, spinach, blackberries, blueberries and herbs.

"Sometimes the smallest things can be the hardest to grow," this adventurous gardener shares. "But if I like something, I will give it a try in my backyard jungle. I try to choose plants that will tolerate our heat.”

The love of digging in the dirt, the joy and satisfaction of watching things grow, the wisdom gleaned from decades of gardening and the graciousness of sharing with all have been lovingly passed from mother to daughter and grow green as a living legacy in Kelley Bell Phillips' garden of tribute.