Staff writer
When Pam Byers looked at her then-future husband’s country property on 230th Rd., she quailed a bit.
“I first thought, I can’t take care of all this,” Byers said.
Les Byers had purchased the property in 2012. He and Pam were married in 2014.
The tasteful home is surrounded by pastureland and typical eastern Flint Hills scenery, but the scenery immediately around the house is breathtaking.
The manicured, terraced lawn is filled with rows and pockets of wonderfulness.
At the front and sides of the house, perennials and native flowers bloom. Lilac bushes have bloomed and finished for the season.
Lavender, alliums, tulips, 11 colors of irises, and later-blooming flowers blossom throughout the season and brighten the spirits of people who come to the Byers home.
A windbreak of maple trees, pin oaks, bur oaks, locust trees, and a variety of pine trees shields the home from the north wind.
Some of the locust trees have branches laden with blooms.
A small orchard contains an assortment of apple trees, peach trees, cherry trees, plum trees, and pear trees.
Blueberries, raspberries, kiwi plants, and flowering quince plants grace a section of ground south of the windbreak.
Summer looks to bring an abundant harvest to the fruit trees, bushes and vines. Baby apples and blueberries are already hanging on the vine.
Byers said she adds a few plants to the property every year.
The grounds also have statuary, sculpture, and a natural sculpture made from an inverted tree trunk.