JHHD July 2026 Yard of the Month

5634 Junius Street

Lourdes Ordonez

Many mornings, while I sit at my kitchen table, enjoying my coffee, I take in the quiet beauty of our block. One of my favorite views is the graceful gray house just around the corner on Junius Street. No matter the season, there always seems to be something beautiful happening in the garden.

That garden belongs to Lourdes Ordonez.

Lourdes grew up at 5634 Junius and still lives there with her mother, Esperanza. She is soft-spoken and lives a quiet life, but beneath that quiet exterior is someone with a deep love for her family, her neighbors, her community, and the little patch of earth she tends so faithfully.

Her parents moved into the house more than fifty years ago. Over the years, they lovingly transformed it into a neighborhood gem. In many ways, the house reflects Lourdes herself—graceful rather than showy, thoughtfully tended and revealing a quiet elegance within.

Esperanza has always devoted her attention to making the inside of the home welcoming. While Esperanza also does a lot of work outside, Lourdes, has really found her sanctuary there.

“Working outside in my yard is soul healing,” she says.

She delights in color and isn’t afraid to experiment. Finding the perfect place for a plant sometimes means moving it once or twice, but that’s simply part of the process. Gardening, she says, is always teaching her something.

Lourdes is quick to point out that her garden isn’t really hers alone. Along this stretch of Junius, several longtime neighbors affectionately refer to their yards as the “Community Garden.” These families have shared the neighborhood for decades, and the friendships they’ve cultivated are every bit as enduring as their gardens. The women, especially, exchange cuttings, divide perennials, swap gardening advice, and celebrate each other’s successes.

“Friends know I love plants,” Lourdes says with a smile. “They give them to me as gifts.”

One gift holds particular meaning. Knowing how much Lourdes admired magnolia trees—and remembering that her grandmother loved them as well—friends surprised her one day with a Little Gem magnolia. It now grows in the front yard, a living reminder of family, friendship, and the trees that shaded her childhood home before age finally claimed them.

The garden itself is a joyful tapestry of color and texture. Boisterous bougainvillea spills over with exuberant flowers while Mexican heather sedately blooms next to it, and sedum softens the edges of the beds. Towering canna lilies stand alongside roses, dianthus, petunias, and verbena, each contributing its own splash of color.

But it’s the small surprises that make the garden especially delightful. Blown-glass birds catch the sunlight by day and softly glow after dark. “We love little birds,” Lourdes says. “Bluebirds and cardinals are very special birds to us.”

Sea glass sparkles among the flowers. Colorful glass mushrooms peek out from beneath the foliage, a tiny turtle keeps watch at the edge of a flower bed, and if you look closely enough, you’ll discover a little garden gnome tucked away, not far from her charming house. One of the Community Garden friends gifted Lourdes with a whimsical donkey planter, now overflowing with cheerful blossoms.

For Lourdes, the garden is about much more than flowers.

“Part of gardening is to make people feel safe and welcome,” she says. “I love when people walking by stop to say hello while I’m working in the yard. It makes my heart happy.”

It’s hard to imagine a better description of both the garden and the gardener. Both invite you to slow down, smile, and feel at home. And on this little stretch of Junius Heights, that’s a beautiful gift to everyone who passes by.