Magic is happening in Carmen Sanchez Bezzard's backyard, and the Manheim woman invites you to experience it, too.
Bezzard gives tours of Dragon Hill Gardens, the name she's given her backyard haven, and she recently released the children's book "Momma's Magical Gardens."
"I love gardening," Carmen said. "For me, nature is my sanctuary."
When Carmen and her husband, Dale, moved to their property in 2003, the yard was a blank slate.
"There was hardly anything here," she recalled. Over time, the pair has added a wide variety of flowers and plants, as well as a small stream and waterfall and lots of whimsical statues. "My husband loves dragons," Carmen noted, adding that the garden also features a lot of ladybug figurines, in tribute to Dale's nickname for his wife of almost 49 years.
Carmen released "Momma's Magical Gardens" in June, although she started writing it more than a decade ago. In the time between, she operated a mystical gift shop in Smoketown and cared for her ill father before his death in 2008. That experience prompted her first book, "Can You See Me, Pappy? It's Analise!" The book was written about the special connection between her father and her great-niece. "Caring for my dad was a bittersweet time, but Ana brought more sweet to the bitter," Carmen said.
For "Momma's Magical Gardens," she turned to her yard for inspiration.
"It's about a child working in the garden with his mother, and the child learns about the magic of gardening," she noted, adding that her daughter, Jessica, designed the book's cover art. "Mother Nature is magical. You can take a tiny seed, plant it in the dirt and something beautiful comes from it. That's magic."
The book is geared toward children, but Carmen said it's really for the child in all of us.
"This book is for anyone who loves the idea of spending time in the garden or who appreciates the magic of a garden," she noted. "It's about working with your hands and seeing how dirt can be something magical. Nature is in everything around us, and nature is in you. You have a special power within you, and it's the power to grow beautiful things."
Carmen is in the process of donating copies of her book to local libraries and is currently working on two or three more books.
In the meantime, she's happy to give tours of her garden by appointment to anyone who's interested. "I'll take people on a walking tour of the garden, and I let children name the different characters throughout the gardens," she said. "They all already have names, but they can have more than one. It's about having fun and finding the magic in the garden."
"Momma's Magical Gardens" is available for purchase on Amazon. To schedule a tour of Carmen's garden, contact her through Facebook or email her at dragonhillgardens@yahoo.com.
Leave a Review