Kirk House & Gardens

Yesterday I went up to the Kirk House, it is about 10 minutes from my house.. The Kirk House is ran by one of our Garden Club members, Ruth. Her great grandparents built the house in 1914. It is absolutely amazing. It is a craftsman style house, situated on four acres. The Kirk House is now used for weddings, meetings, and parties.

Ruth has graciously offered to let the Club use the greenhouse, and the gardens for our plant sale next year. A few of us went up to discuss the plant sale. We left with a lot of goodies as well.

Ruth's mother lives in another home located on the four acres. She is 90 years old, and has been given an incredible gift! She makes ceramic vegetables and flowers. They are out of this world. She is world renowned, and her pieces of made to order. She has been in 100's of magazines, and you can find her pieces in many museums across the country. She started doing it as a hobby with her mother, just to give her mother something to do. Mary Kirk Kelly is now known all over for her masterpieces. The first time I saw her work was at a fellow garden club members home. I was blown away. They are very delicate. Here are a few pictures of the house. I couldn't get a good picture of the front. You can click on the photo to enlarge. Some of the flowers at the garden. I left with a bucket full of cuttings, and plants I dug up. Notice the variegated hydrangea at the bottom, 2nd from left. It is beautiful. It is a miniature and does not get as big as a normal hydrangea. The flower on the bottom row, 4th picture is a Gloriosa Lily. This is one of my favorites. It is an old flower. I got many of these from my grandma. I also got 5 or 6 more yesterday while I was there.

Ruth took us into her mothers studio. I could have a field day in there!!!! Ruth also works with her mother to create pieces...that way they can continue the artistic legacy. Please click on the photo to enlarge so you can see a close up of their work. They take real veggies, and make molds, then use ceramic to make the pieces. It is really mind blowing to see in person. They have made every vegetable, flower, leaf known to man. There must have been 500 molds on the shelves. They do take orders for custom pieces. I would love to have a piece of their work. It is amazing...I can't say enough about it. Have any of you ever heard of Mark Kirk Kelly? Do you have any of her pieces or know anyone that does?

Ruth told us a story about one of the pieces. Many years ago she received a call from a maid. The maid had broken a carrot that Ruth's mother had made. She said she needed a replacement made, she had broken it while dusting, and her employers had several, several pieces of her mothers work. She took the order, and it turns out that the owners were the Hearst's!!! She said she was blown away that they had her mother's pieces. Amazing to me that Mark Kirk Kelly, from Creola, Alabama....has become world renowned for her little veggies.

Here is a link to the Kirk House & Gardens. You can read more about it, and see Mark Kirk Kelly. http://northmobilegardensociety.blogspot.com/2009/03/hydrangea-happenings.html