Janice Becker takes us on a deeply personal tour of her Deerfield, Illinois (Zone 5B) garden and the many transformations it has undergone over the past 20–25 years. Once featured in Fine Gardening as a shade garden, this landscape has continually evolved—sometimes suddenly and heartbreakingly—due to the loss of mature oak and birch trees, changing light conditions, and the realities of time.
In this video, Janice shares how losing beloved trees forced her to adapt quickly, transitioning from shade-loving plants like hostas and ligularia to sun-loving perennials, roses, and alpine plants, embracing the sun after years of dense shade, and how volunteering at the Chicago Botanic Garden influenced her plant choices.
You’ll also hear Janice reflect on planting nearly everything from whips, her identity as a passionate plant collector (not a designer!), the importance of oak trees as keystone species, and how the garden continues to shift as trees mature and shade returns. Now facing another transition—this time shaped by age and maintenance—Janice offers a thoughtful, honest look at what it means to garden for a lifetime.
This is a story about resilience, adaptation, loss, joy, and the ever-changing relationship between gardeners and their gardens.
Read about Janice’s garden here:
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22 Comments
Beautiful garden! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Wow! Amazing job with the garden transformation! That Kindred Spirit oak is on the "must have" list for this year. Thanks for sharing your yard.
What a lovely lady. Would love to be her neighbor. Your garden is amazing.
Beautiful garden. Thank you for sharing. And, yes, Carex. I am right there with you, they definitely help keep the weeding down. I try to do an hour or so each day and so far that seems to be enough. By transitioning to native plants, it has helped somewhat.
Did you put in an underground watering system?
Fellow plant geek and MG here. My husband is still waiting for me to “landscape” the yard lol. Thank you for sharing!!
Beautiful garden!🩷
What a jewel. I love her spirit. She should be very proud of her amazing garden.
Janice, you are amazing. Thank you for giving us all a look into your decades of work. ❤
I totally understand about the time that goes into the garden and not being able to physically keep up with it. Thank you for sharing that as so many of us need to hear that, and it’s great to see how you are addressing this, I will be doing that this season.
The garden really looks great. Thanks for the tour!
How big is the garden?
Call me what you want but make sure plant geek/collector is on that list. Thanks for an awesome tour, Janice!
Love how your garden looks, beautiful and welcoming to birds and wildlife. Gardens are ever changing, that’s what I love about them, never a boring moment in the garden. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Beautiful garden! Inspiring.
Ваш сад — це не просто краса, це результат великої праці й любові.
Кожна квітка тут говорить про терпіння, кожен зелений листочок — про турботу. Видно, що ви працюєте не лише руками
Love the passion for plants
You are delightful
I love this gardener and the joy she shares! I am beginning to go through similar phases. More perennials fewer annuals and more blooming shrubs. Thank you for sharing.
What an admirable woman and garden
I have been wondering about the wildlife value of the kindred spirit oak; I had one in my last garden. I know one of the parents is a swamp white oak but since the other is not native I wasn't sure it had the same wildlife value.
Thank you for the video with Janice in her ever changing gardens.