"I do not like boredom. Boredom is my enemy. I try to have interesting pots, and I have the witch," she said with a grin.

True enough, in one of the beds one can find the Wicked Witch of the East's striped legs — and ruby slippers — sticking out from among the penstemons, lilies, hostas and creeping jenny.

While it might seem that an artistic garden might be difficult to use, that is not the case for this one. The garden is immensely practical and serves Albaugh and her friends well in a variety of ways.

"The parking strip is a community garden with eight neighbors who are doing vine crop vegetables this season," she said. "That gives us a chance to grow pumpkins, melons, cucumbers pole beans and other crops on rebar tepees."

Her backyard garden includes a small but productive individual vegetable garden with corn, beets, tomatoes and peppers.

She refers to the rest of her backyard as "the north living room." As an extension of her interior space, it reflects her love of color, plants and artistic containers. Her delightful stairway is a kaleidoscope of ground-cover plants that fill sloped areas leading to her garden seating.

Her outdoor living areas are done for practicality. "The north living room" is cool and shaded from the hot south sun and provides protection in the summer. Here Albaugh is secluded from neighbors and the busy city sounds.

The front patio is a much warmer place that is only comfortable on summer evenings, providing a place to sit with neighbors. In the winter, the south side of the home and the reflected heat from the pond make it comfortable, even during the winter.

What more could she want from her garden?

Her response is spoken like a true gardener: "I want an arbor in the front to provide a little more shade and reduce the heat. I want more stuff growing. I want trees and hedges in the parking strip gardens. I just buy plants and buy plants and plant and plant."

---

If you go ...

What: People Helping People Garden Tour

Where: 11 houses in the Avenues

When: Saturday, 9-a.m.-4 p.m.

How much: $10

Web: www.phputah.org

Phone: 801-583-5300

Larry A. Sagers is the horticulture specialist, Utah State University Extension at Thanksgiving Point.