Gardener Peggy Denoux sits on the porch of her backyard 'shack' built by her husband, Sonny.

An American flag flown by Peggy Denoux's father now watches over her vegetable garden.

Amaryllis grow in Peggy Denoux's backyard garden oasis.

Cajun Hibiscus are Peggy Denoux's favorite plant.

This 'Hen and Chickens' plant welcomes visitors to Peggy Denoux's Donaldsonville home.

Peggy Denoux shows off an old fire bucket once used by her dad that is now a flower planter. The old fence gate is another item added to give charm to her backyard garden.

A bulldog statue sits on Peggy Denoux's front porch surrounded by plants.

Koi swim in a backyard pond at Peggy Denoux's Donaldsonville home.

Poinsettias bloom in April in Peggy Denoux's front yard flower bed.

A pineapple grows in Peggy Denoux's garden.

Statues and old fountains are temporary placed in the corner of Peggy Denoux's back yard garden. She plans to organize them into a memory garden honoring her parents.

This dauschaund planters sits in Peggy Demoux's back yard.

Tomatoes grow in Peggy Demouc's back yard garden.

A bayou rose in full bloom.

Colorful blooms dot Peggy Denoux's back yard garden.

Gardener Peggy Denoux sits on the porch of her backyard 'shack' built by her husband, Sonny.

An American flag flown by Peggy Denoux's father now watches over her vegetable garden.

Amaryllis grow in Peggy Denoux's backyard garden oasis.

Cajun Hibiscus are Peggy Denoux's favorite plant.

This 'Hen and Chickens' plant welcomes visitors to Peggy Denoux's Donaldsonville home.

A bulldog statue sits on Peggy Denoux's front porch surrounded by plants.

Koi swim in a backyard pond at Peggy Denoux's Donaldsonville home.

Poinsettias bloom in April in Peggy Denoux's front yard flower bed.

A pineapple grows in Peggy Denoux's garden.

This dauschaund planters sits in Peggy Demoux's back yard.

Tomatoes grow in Peggy Demouc's back yard garden.

A bayou rose in full bloom.

Colorful blooms dot Peggy Denoux's back yard garden.

As a child, Peggy Landry Denoux loved spending weekends helping in her grandmother's Donaldsonville garden.

In fact, she wanted to grow up to be just like her grandmother, who lived on St. Patrick Street. While she grew up in Algiers, her father, who was in the Navy, was transferred to New York and her family decided to move to Donaldsonville to be close to family. 

Denoux, a self-professed plantaholic, was in the third grade when they moved, giving her more time to spend with her grandmother, Jeanne LeRoy. Her grandmother taught her about plants and how to care for them. She was hooked on gardening.

Peggy Denoux shows off an old fire bucket once used by her dad that is now a flower planter. The old fence gate is another item added to give charm to her backyard garden.

She longed to have her own flower and vegetable gardens, filled with colorful blooms and tasty veggies.

That dream has come full circle, as Denoux spends every day in her yard — front and back — pulling weeds and caring for her flowers and vegetables. She eats breakfast on her backyard picnic table, enjoying the sights and smells of her garden. There's also the butterflies and birds that visit daily. 

This time of year, Denoux, retired from the Ascension Clerk of Court's Office, is enjoying fresh vegetables and berries. She finds joy walking around her backyard garden, pointing out her future garden projects like a memory corner with statues and plants honoring her parents, Henry and Tweetsie Landry. 

Statues and old fountains are temporary placed in the corner of Peggy Denoux's back yard garden. She plans to organize them into a memory garden honoring her parents.

She quickly names each plant and shares a bit of history and stories about many of the plants. An old fire bucket that belonged to her dad is being used as a hanging planter along the back fence, and a flag her dad, a Navy veteran, flew at his home, now flies over Denoux's vegetables beds.

She watches it all from The Shack, a shed made by her husband, Sonny, that includes a front porch complete with a rocking chair. 

The backyard is her sanctuary, the place she goes for peace and quiet. She welcomes the occasional bird tweets and cricket sounds. It's all part of the ambience.

While she enjoys all of the plants, the Cajun hibiscuses are her favorites. Their colorful blooms bring a smile to most garden visitors. She's a member of the Red Stick Hibiscus Association and enjoys picking up new hibiscus plants.

"Sometimes, I have no idea what color will pop out," she said. She even has some hibiscus blooms that change color.

One corner of her garden features raised vegetable beds, built by her husband. She'd have the entire space filled with flower and vegetable beds, but for now, she is happy with the space she has.

Denoux lives in the St. Jude subdivision, just outside the Donaldsonville city limits on the west bank of Ascension Parish. She has an average-sized backyard, but it's jammed with plants, a koi pond, picnic table and garden supplies. Watering takes to two to three hours a day when it doesn't rain, but Denoux enjoys every minute of the chore because it gives her time in the garden.

In recent years, Denoux and her husband have frequently traveled. Family and friends take care of the watering and other garden chores when she's gone. 

These days, she's picking vegetables every day, posting her daily picks on Facebook. She used to can her vegetables, but recently she says she eats all the veggies and doesn't have left over for canning. But she does make blackberry jelly and bread-and-butter pickles. This year, the garden includes pole beans, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, asparagus, okra and blackberries.

Many of her hibiscuses are in pots that have to be moved when it gets cold. Moving plants to the perfect spot takes time and patience, Denoux said.

She has an array of interesting flower pots and statues. A dachshund planter was purchased because they used to have dachshunds. A bulldog statue in the front yard celebrates Ascension Catholic Regional Diocesan School, which her children attended. The "ice plant" stands in the front yard — she said her mom called it that because if withstand freezes. And in another bed, poinsettia were blooming during an April visit to Denoux's yard.

Despite the heat, Denoux is spending most of her summer in her backyard picking vegetables and then in her kitchen cooking up the day's take.

"There's nothing like growing and cooking your own vegetables," Denoux said. "I'm really lucky I get to do this."

Email Darlene Denstorff at ddenstorff@theadvocate.com

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