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CNN Saturday Morning News
Douglasvile, Georgia Is Hosting Annual Foxhall Flower Show
Aired April 20, 2002 - 08:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, our Jacqui Jeras is taking a little time to stop and smell the roses this weekend. She's at the Foxhall Flower Show in Douglasville, Georgia, just a bit outside of Atlanta. And it looks like we've got another guest to talk about the beautiful flowers. Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do. And we're not only talking about waters this time around -- flowers this time around -- we're talking about water. There you go; twisted it around for you.
This is a beautiful garden and water really adds something to it. And just the sound of it -- I'm sure you can hear it picking up on our microphones here. It's very relaxing, very soothing, we've got a bench back behind me, and it's the kind of place where you just want to sit down, read a good book, maybe do a little meditating.
Brooks Garcia is here with us from Fine Gardens, and he is one of the designers, or the designer, right?
BROOKS GARCIA, FINE GARDENS: Yes, I am.
JERAS: Of Fine Gardens. Thanks for joining us this morning.
GARCIA: You're welcome. Glad to be here.
JERAS: Well the first thing I notice as you walk into this garden, the big focal point is right here behind us. It is this beautiful waterfall and the statue on top of it is so very interesting and beautiful. Can you tell us a little bit about this statue, first of all?
GARCIA: Well, I own the statue, and it is an original piece, and we think it was done by a local artist in the '30s and '40s. But we can't substantiate that claim. But she's lovely, and she is carrying a paddle and a net, and her headdress or her hair is water lilies and cattails, so she's very appropriate for being in a water feature.
JERAS: OK, so you want to -- when you're choosing a statue for your garden, would you look for something with a...
GARCIA: Something that has a water theme. You know, a frog or a duck or a little girl holding a shell that spills water -- not necessarily, but with this one, we did, we wanted to choose something rather grand and that's why she's sort of this bronze color, which was inspired by a garden I had seen at the Chelsea Flower Show.
JERAS: It's very beautiful. You can see the waterfall coming down into a nice pool. You've got a lot of rocks around, and different plant material around it. Now, I noticed that there's not as much bloom in this but there certainly is a lot of color. Is that something that you want to do -- or, what type of plant variety do you really need to focus on?
GARCIA: Well, you want things to sort of lend themselves to the idea of water. That's why we have these Japanese maples that sort of weep over the pond area. And they give the idea of a green waterfall. And then there's ferns and hostas and things that give you the idea of lushness and shade and water, and then we've added irises and calla lilies and things of that sort that actually have their -- as we say -- their feet in the water, that like being in wet soil.
JERAS: Now what kind of maintenance is there for a water feature garden, as opposed to a regular ground garden like this?
GARCIA: There is a little bit of maintenance to a garden. You've got to keep the leaves out of the pond, and you've got to keep the water clean. And you probably should drain the water feature once a year and give it a thorough cleaning, like a spring-cleaning. And keep the filter clean on the pump. And the pump will last about two or three years.
JERAS: Two or three years?
GARCIA: Well, it runs all the time unless you shut it off.
JERAS: OK, in terms of cost: is this something people can do at home? What kind of range are we talking about?
GARCIA: Absolutely. Well, it depends on how elaborate you get with your water feature. If you get real elaborate, then it gets real expensive. If you keep it simple, it can be around $100 or $200. And most of those materials can be bought at Home Depot.
JERAS: And you can do this yourself, you can build this. How would you get -- where do you get ideas for this?
GARCIA: I would get a good water pond book. Or a water garden book. And take a look at that and decide where you want to put it. A lot of, about water features -- is about making it look realistic. And that's why we banked this water feature up so it looks like it's coming off of a hillside because water, of course, flows downhill. It doesn't look natural if you just stack up a pile of rocks in your yard and have the water spill off of the top of it.
JERAS: OK. So, you need to have a reason for having the water feature there.
GARCIA: Exactly. But it doesn't mean that it can't be a fountain or something, or have a feature that actually spouts water into a still pool or something of that sort to create the sound of water. Just needs to be believable. JERAS: Well, you've certainly made this one believable. And just behind us is the Chattahoochee River, so you have a reason for water.
GARCIA: Yes, we do.
JERAS: Beautiful gardens here. Brooks Garcia joining us from Fine Garden, right here at the Foxhall Flowers Garden Show in Douglasville, Georgia. Hours 9 to 6 so, we're about 10 minutes away from the kickoff here. People are going to come out and enjoy this beautiful scene. And, as I mentioned, Kyra, just the sound is so very relaxing. A beautiful place to be on a Saturday morning. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Jacqui, I agree. I already feel like I'm getting in this meditative state. Thank you so much. Something we need on the weekend.
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