"Empowered" is overused these days, but that's how I felt last week after visiting Cindy Brady's Roswell garden. When I got home, I was ready to tackle the world. If Brady, a writer and tennis professional, can transform 1 1/2 acres of a former cattle farm into a colorful, diverse garden, then I should at the least be able to dig a few big shrubs that have needed to be moved for years.

Starting with a large blank lawn and some choked and tangled woods, Brady has worked for 14 years, taking up more and more turf and creating free-form, sunny beds that include a variety of plants – shrubs, trees, perennials, reseeding annuals and herbs. The woods, which were filled with honeysuckle, poison ivy and privet, now shelter all sorts of shade-loving plants, many rescued from construction sites. Paths wind through the woodland, past pink flowering trilliums (rescued) and newly planted rhododendrons (likewise saved from a bulldozer and carefully planted the correct way in mounds above the woodland floor).

MARTHA TATE/Special (ENLARGE)

Cindy Brady built up her Roswell garden's soil with sand, manure and pine bark. Wallflowers stretch in the sun.

MARTHA TATE/Special (ENLARGE)

Pink trillium at Cindy Brady's Roswell garden.

MARTHA TATE/Special (ENLARGE)

Plant Pick Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii

How did she accomplish all of this? Largely, by dividing and conquering.

"I'm all the time finding dogwoods or crape myrtles that have come up in odd places, and I just take them up and plant them where I need a tree," says Brady, who started out with one row of azaleas, then added gardens from there.

In addition, she has spread the exquisite large blue bearded iris inherited from her grandmother throughout the garden. Ditto on the hostas and ferns she's obtained through the years. Many of her perennials and annuals reseed, and she's constantly moving those as well.

Brady is not shy about tackling drainage and soil issues. She hired a man with a backhoe to dig several of the beds. She had tons of builder's sand delivered and would fill her big Dodge Ram pickup with loads of manure and ground pine bark to add to the mix.

The result is excellent drainage, the key to her success with so many flowers, shrubs and herbs. Because of the full sun and good drainage, Brady is able to grow many plants (e.g., wallflower, Cheiranthus cheiri) that normally struggle in our climate.

While the garden has required almost daily work through the years, Brady says the rewards are great.

"I have loved making this garden," she says. "It has been a challenge, but I can't imagine not doing it. You come out every day and find something new. It's amazing."

MARTHA'S PICK

Giant spurge

Botanical name: Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii
About the plant: Chartreuse flower bracts top bluish foliage in April and May. Grows to 3 feet.
Use in the garden: Bold statement in a sunny bed, great in combination with blue iris.
Planting and care: To look its best and not flop over, provide it good drainage and full sun. Care should be taken when cutting the stems, as the milky substance can irritate the skin.
Source: Lost Mountain Nursery, 824 Poplar Springs Road, Dallas. 770-427-5583.

MAY SNAPSHOT IN CINDY BRADY'S GARDEN

• Full sun plants: bearded iris (three colors); salvia 'May Night'; bright reddish orange geum; Cytisus 'Lena,' a striking red and yellow broom; a mat-forming euonymus with green and yellow variegated foliage; different colored sweet Williams; a gorgeous maroon nine bark in flower; lime green spirea combined with deep burgundy barberry; large mounds of Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii.
• Shade plants: hosta, columbine, various gingers; sweetshrub, May pops, galax leaves, Japanese painted fern, mountain laurel, Virginia sweetspire.