May and Jim Vidacovich - Silver Level Louisiana Certified Habitat - Lafayette

ANPP congratulates May and Jim Vidacovich for their silver certified habitat off

Carmel Avenue in Lafayette. May and Jim moved to this acre property 20 years

ago and began transitioning their yard into a spectacular garden. May's Master

Gardener training (and 6 hours a day working in the garden) shows, not only in

her compositions and mulching practices, but she is an avid propagator too.

When they bought the two-acre lot next door five years ago, they added more

beds and incorporated many more natives in big massings. Purple coneflowers,

blanket flowers, rattlesnake master and native azaleas provide structure around

which smaller plants like penstemons, Stokes aster and Indian pink provide fill

and interest. The backdrop for these beds are nice paths of lawn, brick edging,

statues, water features and decorative pottery serving as cues to care. The

periphery of the property has not been gardened, and contains other great natives

like catalpa trees. May has gotten many of her natives from Lafayette Parish

Master Gardeners Association , The Urban Naturalist , Gail Magee, and ANPP.