At Home With The Croixs
EC gardening award given to local family
By QUALA MATOCHA lifestyle@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Quala Matocha Colorful flowers are very prominent outside the home of J.J. and Christy Croix, a feature that attracted the attention of El Campo Garden Club members when making their selection for April Yard of the Month. Pictured in their front yard among the vibrant scarlet bottle brush plants and yellow pansies are members of the Croix family: J.J. and Christy seated with children (l-r) Jillian, 17-months, Marin, 4, and Griffen, 6, and their Weimaraner Ruby.

While the Croix family aren't new to El Campo, their home is. J.J. and Christy Croix, 1306 Emerald Court, began with a clean slate for landscaping when they built and moved into their home a little over a year ago.

Today, the Croix family, which includes the parents and their three children: Griffen, 6, Marin, 4, and Jillian, 17-months, are being recognized as April yard honorees by the El Campo Garden Club. Making the selection were members Sherry Stanley and Marilee Reddell.

"We were very surprised and excited," J.J. said of learning of the award.

Yard transformation was the process of careful planning and Christy's knowledge of design.

"The secret is planning," he said. "Christy planned the space using her background in design and her experience from the Master Gardener's program for the initial design. We then consulted with a landscape architect and a local landscaping contractor to finalize the layout."

Maintenance is given careful consideration, too.

"While Christy and the kids tend to watering flowers and plants and weeding. We do get help with the mowing from time to time," J.J. said.

A colorful landscape, J.J. and Christy believe, is the reason Stanley and Reddell chose their yard.

"We suppose the colors made a difference," he said. "Our grass is still taking root, so the seasonal flowers and flowering plants, like bottle brushes and camellias, hopefully take attention away from the areas that have yet to mature."

While seasonal flowers bring color to the yard, the couple have also incor-

porated some items for their mothers' yards, Robin Croix of Houston and Cindy Michael of El Campo, and J.J.'s grandmother, Betty Weirsma of Porter.

"We have red lilies that were taken from my grandmother's yard," J.J. said. "Both of our moms like to garden. So sharing divided plants and bulbs is very common between family members and friends."

To incorporate color, the couple plant seasonal flowers, such as pansies, snapdragons and caladiums.

"Underneath the oak tree in the front yard there is a lot of color with the agapanthas in bloom and the bottle brush plants, camellias and the seasonal flowers," J.J. said. "This is the area where our girls like to go to pick flowers for mommy. Somehow, we still have a few left."