- February 12, 2025
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Janett Taylor, master gardener and garden artisan, is working to repair the damaged parts of the Memorial Gardens (Photo by Emily Blackwood).
Despite the messes Hurricane Matthew caused the gardens, Janett Taylor has found little miracles, like a blossoming flower (Photo by Emily Blackwood).
The gazebo only had minor damage to the edge of the roof (Photo by Wayne Grant).
A tree fell on Emmons Cottage, but it doesn't look like much damage was done (Photo by Wayne Grant).
Just last Wednesday, the Ormond Memorial Art Museum Gardens were pristine. So pristine in fact, that a recent cleaning left the sidewalk leaf free.
Until Hurricane Matthew that is.
"There was such an initial shock," Master Gardener Janett Taylor said of seeing the destruction after the storm. "It's mostly cleanup, but it's like digging a hole with a teaspoon."
The hurricane knocked down some of the garden's many trees, the tall bamboo, covered the pathways with debris and damaged both the Emmons Cottage and the gazebo. A few koi fish had to be buried.
But this isn't the first time the gardens have seen hardship. Taylor — who has been working for the museum since 1980 — has seen it through hurricanes, freezes, and flooding. And every time, it grows back.
"Give it a few years, and you won't be able to tell," she said. "And we had a few little miracles. The flower bed and the greenhouse were untouched."
