Loxley gardener Rebecca Luck has been a fortunate granddaughter whose wise grandmother instilled in her both the necessity and the love of gardening that has remained constant through the decades.

“My grandmother always gardened for as long as I can remember,” Rebecca explains. “She was a teacher in Virginia during the Depression and she grew gardens both at home and at school for her students. Nobody had much in those days, so my grandmother would have her students bring in a carrot or an onion or whatever they could spare, and every day she would make soup for all to share. She got me interested in growing food and some flowers as well.”

Rebecca has carried those early growing experiences with her as she grew up wherever life took her. She shares, “I have lived in the mountains of Tennessee where I grew vegetables that did well, raised pumpkins successfully in Utah and, after I married and became the default lawn mower, turned grass clippings into fertile garden plots. I also helped design the landscaping of patios and sidewalks for my homes in the rolling prairies of Colorado.”

It seems that gardening has always been a friend to Rebecca, albeit a quietly sustaining one during her busy law career. “I was an art major in college,” she shares, “then I left college and went to law school,” she adds with a laugh. “You have to be creative doing trial work. That's the artsy side of law, if there is one.”

Most of Rebecca’s law career was centered around the Department of Mental Health and doing government contract work. “I pretty much was a non-participant in life outside of my job,” she says. “And then I retired in 2013 and I love it! I can now do just what I like!”

One of the things that she likes is the Baldwin County Master Gardeners. “All of a sudden I had fun things to do,” she says with a smile. “I really love the master gardener program. Being a part of this group has re-introduced me to the real world of people-a sense of connection-not with clients or bosses. This group does so much to help the community.”

Rebecca has continued the gardening heritage she learned at her grandmother’s farm with daughter, Jenny, who is a talented landscape designer and gardener herself. Mother and daughter have planned and nurtured a lovely garden of both food plants and charming decorative beds of shrubs and flowers. Consistent with her art background, Rebecca explains, “We have made cuttings from camellias and watching them grow their beautiful blooms is something rather like art.”

She proudly displays the “food growing” area of her bountiful Loxley garden. Drip irrigation waters thirsty herbs such as sage, rosemary and cilantro, which both mother and daughter try to incorporate into healthful dishes. Beds of curly kale, blueberries and soon-to-be blackberries, lettuces and citrus trees thrive in the early spring warmth.

“I like to grow food-stuff that is good to eat and good for you,” Rebecca says. “I do like flowers, too.”

Both her front and back yard gardens are constantly being created anew and could easily be considered “works of art.” Stands of plumbago, violas, drift roses and spider lilies provide charming sweeps of form and color. Lovely maturing river birch, dogwoods, spreading yews, Sago palms and camellias add a stateliness to the overall effect. Both gardeners hope to add a water garden soon, as well as a connecting walkway out front.

As a blooming new master gardener, Rebecca is helping with grant writing and working within an array of opportunities for community service.

Gardening provides that sense of connection for Rebecca and as she says, "I enjoy very much the loveliness of it all. I try to do something for the common good and live my years well."

Rebecca Luck’s gardening heritage has served her so well and continues to flow outward to her children and community. The gardening knowledge garnered from her grandmother's farm reaches forward through the generations and sustains and provides an elegant and timeless tribute to lessons from the past.