LOCALadk Magazine

A day after the summer solstice, the air is thick with humidity. In the west, the sky is dark. With the threat of thunderstorms in the distance, I line my pack with a plastic bag in case I need to stash my camera. Today, I'm on a mission as special and fleeting as a great bird migration. At the end of Tebbet Road, on the shores of Rainbow Lake, Don and Yvonne Busch have crafted an unlikely paradise from the sandy Adirondack landscape and I'm here to capture the peak of their peony bloom. I step through the gate, latch it behind me, and enter another world. The driveway is flanked by peonies of different shapes and colors. Some have ruffled edges and others are smooth, almost silk-like. There are 24 varieties of peonies on the property and over 400 indi- vidual peony plants. Shades of yellow, pink, red, and white contrast and complement one another. The flowers are at various stages of bloom – some are encased tightly while others are unfurled to the visitor's eye. Each year the bloom arrives around the summer solstice and lasts two to three weeks. The timing of the peak depends on various fac- tors and can be short lived, especially during rainy summers. In addi- tion to the peonies, there's another 30 flower species in the garden. Yellow admiral butterflies dance from plant to plant, sipping on the nectar of a daisy here, and then a coneflower. The well- crafted de- sign of the gardens is like a grand buffet for butterflies - and pho- tographers. Don greets me, and we stroll along the croquet court, which is bordered by peony bushes, the original starters of which came from Japan and China. He is tall and has white hair, blue eyes, and a sharp sense of humor. While touring the property, he points here and there and delivers an occasional pun about it being a funny farm. We pass a sign that says, "Frog parking only. All others will be toad." Don's relationship with the Adirondacks stretches back nearly a centur y. In 1930, his father was diagnosed with Tuberculosis and came to Saranac Lake to partake in Doctor Trudeau's cure. It took two years for his father to rid his body of the disease. After return- ing to his job on Wall Street, he still felt the pull of the Adirondacks and began to bring his family back for summer vacations. Don re - members those trips vividly and it's not much of a surprise that after Don became a successful architect in New York City, he acquired a second home on Rainbow Lake. During a summer visit in 1970, his father said, "I want you to go over and look at a piece of property on the lake." At the time, the property was owned by a stocky Professor of Mathematics, Henr y Jeddeloh. Don took his father's advice and paid Henr y a visit. " While walking the property, I could hardly keep up with the man," Don re- calls fondly. "I loved the woodwork Henr y had done and we fell in love with the place." Henr y and Don became good friends and Henr y imparted a lot of knowledge on the newcomer – including how to build a log cabin – before leaving Rainbow Lake. In the beginning, Don was a novice to gardening in the North Entayant: An Adirondack Wonder By Bethany Garretson

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