Hank's Life with "Garden Lady"
May 22, 2021
Hank (AKA Harvey) loved spending time at Garden Lady's house. He would often spend an entire weekend gardening (almost every weekend in the summer), pulling weeds, dead heading flowers, telling stories of intrigue and adventure in between. Lunch was mostly on the patio alfresco, with patron Hank often calling for Maine Lobster to be flown in by helicopter for the occasion. There was also Gardening late into the evening on occasion with dinner prepared by Jacque Charles.... exotic hotdog meats provided of course. Some summer and fall evenings ran late enough to have hot chocolate and s’mores!
Hank also loved building fires...having studied at Pyromaniacs consolidated Ltd, no less! Burning of secret redacted government papers and lots of honeysuckle bushes was one of his favorites . We spent the first Saturday in May at the Civic Garden Center plant and herb sale ( rain, snow or heat ) for the past 10 years. Hank would inquire about unusual plants we had found in the woods. ( mostly weeds it turns out...lol ) We would always buy an unusual plant just to see if we could get it to grow. We have 4 large walnut trees so getting the plant growth to turn out just right was a challenge. He was most fond of his Jasmine plant and his heirloom Dahlias. His Jasmine is at my house along with his Dahlias which will bloom later in the summer.
Hank enjoyed starting trees from seed as well as the saplings he got from the library. We have sugar maples, silver maples, white oak, Pin oaks and Burr oaks. He even started Mimosa trees which are now about 5’ tall. ( Deer keep trying to eat them )He did research on all the trees on our property with one of the most unusual being a Bass wood tree. He enjoyed everything in the yard and beyond it.
I am so grateful he started his seeds and planted them in my yard. It is something very special by which to remember him. He started a Rose of Sharon (white) from seed and sent friends some of the seeds as gifts. Hank was always fascinated by my assortment of unusual planters: the tea kettle, funnel, coffee pot, rooster and hen planters. We also acquired a reclaimed galvanized chicken nester which he used for as "plant hatchery"( I will upload a picture for you to see. )
Hank immensely enjoyed all of our family get to gather's. "Uncle Hank" was always a part of Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthday parties, graduations parties and pretty much anything to do with our family. Oh, we can’t forget Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day !Hank would buy sparklers for all to enjoy....Always So young at heart...( and He really liked fire I think )
Conversation topics for lunches and dinners on the patio were usually wandering into stories and tales of theaters and movies and many of the iconic silver screen stars that Hank grew up with. It was very seldom that we would talk of mundane gardening ;) .
Hank loved kids, as you can tell by some of the pictures I posted. He would play games, build Lego's with them and was also always a part of hiding the Easter eggs!
When we were all working at Cappel’s we would have a couple of big sit down dinners at our house with "The Gang", along with an annual Plant exchange .Great mounds of food and desert where consumed...someone had eat all that food, right ?We have So many memories that we created and that are often remembered. I will be posting more pictures as I find them...so stay tuned!
Harvey "Hank" Dutton Sykes will be so sorely missed at our home.
By -Mary AKA “ Garden Lady” and Charlie AKA "Well, who really knows!"
Hank also loved building fires...having studied at Pyromaniacs consolidated Ltd, no less! Burning of secret redacted government papers and lots of honeysuckle bushes was one of his favorites . We spent the first Saturday in May at the Civic Garden Center plant and herb sale ( rain, snow or heat ) for the past 10 years. Hank would inquire about unusual plants we had found in the woods. ( mostly weeds it turns out...lol ) We would always buy an unusual plant just to see if we could get it to grow. We have 4 large walnut trees so getting the plant growth to turn out just right was a challenge. He was most fond of his Jasmine plant and his heirloom Dahlias. His Jasmine is at my house along with his Dahlias which will bloom later in the summer.
Hank enjoyed starting trees from seed as well as the saplings he got from the library. We have sugar maples, silver maples, white oak, Pin oaks and Burr oaks. He even started Mimosa trees which are now about 5’ tall. ( Deer keep trying to eat them )He did research on all the trees on our property with one of the most unusual being a Bass wood tree. He enjoyed everything in the yard and beyond it.
I am so grateful he started his seeds and planted them in my yard. It is something very special by which to remember him. He started a Rose of Sharon (white) from seed and sent friends some of the seeds as gifts. Hank was always fascinated by my assortment of unusual planters: the tea kettle, funnel, coffee pot, rooster and hen planters. We also acquired a reclaimed galvanized chicken nester which he used for as "plant hatchery"( I will upload a picture for you to see. )
Hank immensely enjoyed all of our family get to gather's. "Uncle Hank" was always a part of Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthday parties, graduations parties and pretty much anything to do with our family. Oh, we can’t forget Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day !Hank would buy sparklers for all to enjoy....Always So young at heart...( and He really liked fire I think )
Conversation topics for lunches and dinners on the patio were usually wandering into stories and tales of theaters and movies and many of the iconic silver screen stars that Hank grew up with. It was very seldom that we would talk of mundane gardening ;) .
Hank loved kids, as you can tell by some of the pictures I posted. He would play games, build Lego's with them and was also always a part of hiding the Easter eggs!
When we were all working at Cappel’s we would have a couple of big sit down dinners at our house with "The Gang", along with an annual Plant exchange .Great mounds of food and desert where consumed...someone had eat all that food, right ?We have So many memories that we created and that are often remembered. I will be posting more pictures as I find them...so stay tuned!
Harvey "Hank" Dutton Sykes will be so sorely missed at our home.
By -Mary AKA “ Garden Lady” and Charlie AKA "Well, who really knows!"