Letha Straub (photo by Jay Straub)
Erminja Maganja, Garden Club Publicity Chair
The Garden Club Board has selected the yard of Letha and Jay Straub as the recipients of the honorary Yard of the Month award for February 2023. The Straub’s yard is consistently one of the best tended and beautiful in Robson, and the board wanted to recognize their efforts. Letha serves as the Garden Club’s Yard of the Month Chair and was very surprised to learn of the award and was exceedingly appreciative.
Jay built in Robson in 2013. Their love story began when he met Letha in early 2015, and they married in January of 2016. Letha tapped into her love for flowers and gardening to completely remake and transform their yard so each season could come alive with blooming shrubs, colorful and flowering trees, perennials, annuals, and bulbs, to create a rich landscape full of color and with a sense of serenity.
Letha is a native Oklahoman, with an English mother who instilled a love of gardening. She began working in the soil as a young child and enjoyed the creativity of blending shape, color, and texture. Some of her favorites include hydrangea, azalea, clematis, tulips, peonies, and camellias. She especially loves to see it all in full bloom. Letha says it reminds her of how we ourselves should live life in full bloom.
The Straub’s front yard includes a mountain laurel and sunset redbud, one on each side of the house. Their yard also sports Japanese maples, Chinese Pistache, oak, magnolia, and elm. Their property is graced with a welcoming front courtyard and a spacious back patio.
Letha shared a couple of tips: Her English mother saved coffee grounds to mix into the dirt under azalea, hydrangea, and ferns. The plants love this boost of acidity, and it gives better blooms. Letha has come to realize how very different gardening is here in North Texas, only 100 miles from her Oklahoma home. She has learned to be watchful and attentive to each plant and doesn’t hesitate to relocate them to provide the best environment for their needs.
Please stop by to see Letha and Jay’s home at 9628 Crestview Drive and congratulate them on their lovely landscape.
If you have a candidate or other suggestions for Yard of the Month, please contact Letha Straub at [email protected] or 580-490-1500.
For information about the Garden Club, contact Erminja at [email protected] or 916-804-5551.