I Simply Remember These Favorite Things with Dr. A ~ September 2025
IF IT IS SEPTEMBER, THEN MY FAVORITE SEASON IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER.
Fall is coming, with brilliant flashes of leaf color, lovely temperatures both day and evening, and, of course, football season. It is also a wonderful time for the garden, with plants that have been biding their time and are now ready to give a show. Let’s read, travel, and explore the garden.
A Plant - Toadlily Tricyrtis spp.
This is a terrific plant for late summer and fall gardens. The unusual flowers generally show up in September but continue for many weeks. When you see a toadlily, look on the back of the flower, and you will notice the three bumps – then ask anyone what their mother told them about handling toads, perhaps those wart-like protuberances are a hint as to how it came to be known as toadlily.
Since they don’t flower until late in the season, you may want to purchase those with interesting foliage. Many have yellow or white margins and are quite beautiful even when not in flower. My favorites are ‘Samurai’ (foliage) and ‘Empress’ (large flowers).
Trycyrtis ‘Empress’
Tricyrtis ‘Samurai’
A Garden - Chateau de Brecy, Creully sur Seulles,
Normandy, France
I was talking today with a young lady who was making a bucket list for gardens she would like to visit. Many of you are also compiling bucket lists of various things, so for the travelling gardeners, you will enjoy Chateau de Brecy in Normandy. This beautiful formal garden is owned and loved by Monsieur Didier Wirth. The garden is spectacular with four terraces, a lovely parterre, a long formal allee, and even a church.
If Monsieur Didier is in the garden, be sure to ask to visit his library; it is an extensive garden library that rivals any such library almost anywhere in Europe.
Visiting the beaches of Normandy can be a bit overwhelming and somewhat gloomy, but a visit to Chateau de Brecy will quickly elevate the mood.
A Book - Theo of Golden
Author: Allen Levi
Fiction
A mysterious old man moves into a small Southern town, and within a couple of months, he is everyone’s best friend. This is a book about the good in humanity portrayed by Theo, a man “fully invested in the art of living.” He is a person you want to be.
In his first few weeks, Theo visits the local coffee shop whose walls are adorned with dozens of sketches of random townspeople done by a local artist. Theo is determined to meet these people and give them their portraits and in so doing, learn their stories. Invariably, they open up to this gentle old man who reminds us that kindness is made up of “little, nameless, unremembered acts”.
That he is loved and revered by the people he met was never in doubt and the climax to the book cannot help but bring us all closer to the meaning of goodness.
A Show/Movie- Bob Trevino Likes It
Our book club recently included movies to discuss, and this little-known independent film was a wonderful surprise. Lily Trevino's mother left when she was a child, and she has also recently been abandoned by her callous incredibly useless father. Searching on Facebook for her father, she found a stranger whose name was Bob Trevino. Each has many issues in their lives; however, slowly but surely, they became friends; something both of them sorely needed.
The movie just kept getting better as their friendship blossomed and each of them found strength in the other. Our book club loved the characters, enjoyed the humor, and drank a good deal of wine discussing the ending.
The movie is fiction, but is based on the true friendship that writer and director Tracie Laymon found with a stranger when looking for her father online.
A Place - Monhegan, Maine
If you decide to vacation in Maine (highly recommended) and want to get off the trodden path and enjoy a half day’s walk, think about going to Monhegan Island. This small isle is barely a square mile in area and is a terrific walking island. There are 9 miles of walking trails, a small village with shops and refreshments and lovely accommodations.
It is approximately 10 miles from the mainland and accessible only by boat. We found our way there from Booth Bay Harbor, but other ports on the coast also take people to the island.
It is a lovely way to spend at least a day.
A recommendation from readers based on last month’s issue.
From Susy Stone:
I highly recommend this book- The Lion Women of Tehran ” by Marian Kamala, a great story of friendship.
Be featured next month by leaving a little feedback, please.
Anyone who enjoys reading, traveling, and gardening could write a column like this. So, if you're keen, please send me feedback on your favorites and include a book, place, plant, or garden you recommend.
Add your favorites in the comments below or email us using the button below!