A Family Transforms a Blank Backyard into a Garden Filled with Blooms
When Stacey McDaniel’s family moved to Cheraw for her husband’s career, Rebecca at Lewis Realty helped them find the perfect home for their family. “We just loved it when we walked in,” Stacey said of the Federalist-style home reminiscent of her grandparents’ house in Georgia.
The house had plenty of room for their family, and as Stacey remarked, “The sunroom got us.” The only thing lacking was flowers outside of the kitchen window. Stacey was familiar with daylilies since her great aunt had a backyard complete and even a few lilies that had traveled with them as their family moved from Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and now, South Carolina. Stacey and her dogs were thrilled to have a backyard after living in Virginia, where the backyard was, as she described, “literally off the side of the mountain.”
Stacey set out to bring life to her backyard’s blank slate and mail-ordered a few daylilies that were taking longer to get here than the growing season allowed. One of the things that Stacey loves the most about Cheraw is being able to safely walk her dogs around town and the neighbors’ friendliness.
On one of these walks, Stacey stopped to admire a neighbor’s beautiful yard filled with blooms, particularly daylilies. As the neighbors talked about flowers, the neighbor suggested introducing Stacey to John Anderson, a local young man home from college. John had worked alongside his grandfather, Larry Davis, who hybridized many daylilies, naming many for people and places around Cheraw.
John visited Stacey’s yard and then shared many of his day-lilies with Stacey. What had started as a blank canvas was beginning to fill with colors, blooms, and lilies. Stacey’s husband Mike added a fire pit with a pergola and lights as a place for their teenage sons to hang out and watch movies. The yard feature that makes Stacey “tickled every time I see it” is an adorable former playhouse that Mike redid, complete with window boxes, a bright red door, and gingerbread trim, as a “she-shed” for Stacey’s garden tools.
Stacey still enjoys walking around town and admiring the beautiful yards, and the neighbor who introduced her to John occasionally stops by with a new plant. The lilies in her garden, such as “Old Cheraw,” “Cheraw’s Bud Anderson,” and “Cheraw’s Great Pee Dee,” pay tribute to the McDaniel’s new home and the neighbors who helped inspire a backyard transformed with love!
At Lewis Realty, we pride ourselves on being neighbors you know and professionals you can trust. Contact Lewis Realty today to find your New Home here or call us at (843) 921-2002
