Lots to see at Smith -Dworsky garden and more
By BURLON PARSONS bparsons@journal-spectator.com

Staff Photo by Burlon Parsons Becky Smith looks at the bud of a yellow rose which is about to bloom. In front of her is a fence loaded with the pink flowers of a climbing rose.

When visitors arrive at the country garden of Becky Smith and Suzanne Dworsky, they better be ready to spend a few hours.

Besides the greenhouse and multiple flower beds there are the cut glass and concrete artwork and the animals.

This is a great garden to take the children along to. While the animals are not for petting, they can be admired.

Smith describes herself as the plant person while Dworsky is the animal person.

Smith coached girls sports in both Houston ISD and Alief ISD for a total of 32 years. There were 28 years spent at Alief alone.

When she retired she decided to get in the country. She has been at the 662 Mesquite Hills location for the past eight years.

"All that was here was the house, pond, shop, double car garage and pool," she said. "We put in the fences, flower beds, trees, added the lawn and put up the green house."

Smith says she loves the country. Her first purchase when she moved was a John Deere tractor with front-end loader and shredder.

She began learning about plants when she retired - even to the point of working at a nursery to learn more about plants.

Smith also attended workshops and became a master gardener in Fort Bend County.

Don't look for her at their place on Wednesdays, she's in charge of the Cottage Garden at the Fort Bend Extension Service Center in Rosenberg those days.

Roses are favorite of hers. "I have more than 200 roses," she said. "I do a lot of cutting and propagation."

One of her roses traces its line to a rose bush planted in the 1750s.

For this weekend's tour there will be many areas open for viewing. And Smith can provide information on any plant she has in her garden.

For the younger set there are ostriches, emus, chickens, pigs, geese, ducks and other animals for viewing.

Don't forget to take a look at the cut glass designs set in concrete while visiting the site.

There will also be roses and other plants for sale at the site.