Starting over after leaving a 27-year old garden

Gloria Smith is starting over. Three years ago, she left the garden she'd been tending for 27 years. "It was heartbreaking," she said.

At her new home in Golden Valley, she had to start from scratch. "The first thing I put in was the purple coneflowers. I used to share them with my mother," she said. "Then I put in some bee balm and some balloon flowers because they're just so magical with that blue." She also added yarrow, lady's mantle and her first rose -- a hardy shrub rose.

Although her new garden is smaller than her old one, it's no less colorful or lovingly tended.

"Now, I've really bonded with this garden," she said. "I can't live without a garden."

Connie nelson