Reflections on Time: Gardens, Life, and the Legacy We Leave Behind

January 15, 2025
Larry Hurley
Inspiration
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I’ve been thinking of how fast time passes. I’m at the age when I go to more funerals than weddings, and I was sad to hear about the recent death of Stephanie’s Father-In-Law, Marshall. As a gardener, I was thinking about the things we do to make our home environments more pleasant, maybe providing some food and shelter for some of the other creatures out there, and trying to bring beauty to the world. Like all life, gardens are ephemeral, changing with time and eventually giving way to something else. Make the most of your time on earth; try to include some time to garden.

Photos: backyard, our former Maryland home. 1984 when we bought the house, and 2017, a few years before we sold it.

L HUrley back yard before moving around 2017

Larry Hurley

Larry Hurley worked at Behnke Nurseries from 1984 until the business was composted in 2019, primarily with the perennial department in growing, buying and sales.

Before landing at Behnke’s, he worked as a technician in a tissue culture lab, a houseplant “expert” at a florist shop, and inventory controller at a wholesale nursery in Dallas. With this and that, ten years passed.

When his wife Carolyn accepted a position at Georgetown University, Larry was hired at Behnke’s for the perennial growing department and garden center at Behnke’s Largo location.

In 2021, Larry and Carolyn moved back to Wisconsin to be closer to family and further from traffic. After 37 years in a shaded yard in Maryland, he is happy to have a sunny lot where he can grow all sorts of new perennials, if only he can keep the rabbits at bay. He also enjoys cooking, traveling, and the snowblower.

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