Like many other people who started home projects during the quarantine of 2020, Cathy Payne began gardening with native plants on her 3/4 acre lot in Athens. By the summer of 2021, the sun perennials were quite showy. The front yard is landscaped with purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), scarlet beebalm (Monarda didyma), and Smalls penstemon (Penstemon smallii). In the back yard, various ferns and wildflowers grow under the water oak (Quercus nigra), pin oak (Quercus palustris), white oak (Quercus alba) and other shade trees. Cathy received a silver award for her pollinator and shade gardens.
