
MY MOTHER loved these red spider lilies, which are still growing in her yard in Esto 36 years after she died — keeping her memory, and green thumb, alive.


AZALEAS ARE BOUNTIFUL every spring, and so are wisteria vines. But this year what’s most striking are fields and fields of Indian cane. It’s a weed that shows up before the fields are plowed and planted. We used to pull it up and chew it when we were kids, although it didn’t offer much taste or kick.
A drive around the dirt roads near Esto offers signs that spring is upon us.





