As fall begins this week, Esther Sauder and other Brethren Village residents are still enjoying the flower garden in one of the courtyards Sauder planted in the spring.

"There are still some knockout roses" that have bloomed three times this year, Sauder said.

The residents also are enjoying the Mandeville flowers which have grown along the archway around the porch, as well as some bougainvillea, foxglove, caladiums and many other types of flowers. In the evenings, 14 silver lights illuminate the garden for them.

"There are so many that I love, but I have to say the roses" are my favorite, Sauder said.

Sauder, 88, said her oldest daughter looked out Sauder's apartment window one day and said, "Mother, that certainly doesn't look like you." She looked out and agreed.

So a couple of years ago, Sauder took it upon herself to take two terra cotta pots with geraniums out to start a garden in the courtyard.

"I've worked with flowers all my life," Sauder said, "especially at Mount Gretna, where I lived for 36 years from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We had a porch that encircled the place and flowers all around."

She also gardened at the Sauders' Florida home. The five palm trees she planted are said to be the prettiest on the street. "You put a handful of epsom salt around the roots and they stay lovely and green," she said.

In the Brethren Village courtyard, two big rocks were Sauder's starting point, she said. From there, she kept adding more flowers, butterfly bushes, birdhouses and other items.

She also purchased chairs for the porch so that everyone at the retirement home could sit, talk and look out on the garden. The porch fills quickly with residents, Sauder said, even though it is hidden away from the rest of the retirement home.

Besides the blooming flowers, Sauder said, residents also have seen more butterflies, such as the black swallowtail, in the courtyard for the last two or three weeks.

The residents also have been fascinated with the birds that nest in the garden in birdhouses that Sauder purchased from the Mount Gretna craft show. There have been baby wrens and chickadees. The residents also have seen hummingbirds, downy woodpeckers, catbirds, cardinals and yellow finches, among many other varieties.

Sauder said residents Merv and Miriam Keith often help her with the garden.

Miriam goes with Sauder to pick out the flowers. "She's good with color," Sauder said. And Merv helps out with caring for the roses and the bird feeders, she said.

Sauder said it "thrills" her to see the residents getting so much enjoyment from her garden.

"I sit and thank the Lord for everything. God is so good," she said.

E-mail: lvaningen@lnpnews.com