Hi, my name is Pamela Peterson. This my own little personal web page on Defries Gardens, also know as the Calendar Garden, which was dreamt and realized by Jon Cutrell, and funded by Beth Defries, whom the garden is named after. I am the garden caretaker and I help Jon.
  The garden is located 1.25 miles east of New Paris, Indiana, on CR 46 on the left hand side of the road.  It sits in a county park.  The garden is in and around a beautiful brick circle walkway and has all the days of the year placed within the bricks; it is 365 feet from start to finish.  On the outside of the brick walkway the plants and flowers are native to the USA but inside the circle are non native plants. 
  There are four structures at all the points of the seasons. The Spring building is a lovely greenhouse.  The Summer building is an open structure with a nice deck on top and chairs on which to relax. This affords a great view of the entire garden.  The Fall building, enclosed with books and seating, is an old railway sleeper car that was salvaged by Beth Defries.  Also in the Fall building is a guest book for visitors to sign.  To the north is the foundation for the Winter building. This will be an enclosed structure with a fireplace and stained glass. Presently the site has a picnic table and a few chairs so people can sit in the shade.  

   Mrs. Defries and her husband John lived on the property for over 50 years.  He was the town doctor for many years and my doctor in the 60s and 70s, and was loved by all!  He passed away in the mid 90s and after a few years Beth moved to Goshen where she lives now. This summer (2011) she turned 90.  If not for Beth this fine garden would not be there, and also for Jon Cutrell who, with help from others on the structures, made the garden possible.  He did this by himself for many years until I came around in 2009 needing a job. I had been coming to the garden for a couple of years prior, to take photos, relax and enjoy the peace. Jon hired me and I have loved every minute of everyday there.  It is the best job I have ever had but I don't see it as a job; it's a priveledge to be there.  Jon and I both try to capture the beauty of the garden. We both take tons of photos there, along with the visitors who come, and my family, but you must come there if your able to see it in person, I know you would be glad you did. 
  Jon has a wonderful and educational site on Flickr for the Calendar Garden/Defries Gardens. It's educational and informative and a "must see". Here is the link to that. Please copy and paste this url : http://www.flickr.com/photos/46211765@N04/ . The names of each and every plant/flower photo is listed with it and brief description of it on some. It is called Calendar Garden's Photostream, and is done by Jon Cutrell.  It can give a whole new perspective to our Garden and what it has to offer.
  I noticed at the library when going to this site that it does not look like it does on my computer.  At the library the layout appears differently: wording in some places, the titles of the photos are way off center, some photos are even jumbled up as well... it just looked terrible. On my computer it does not look that way and I don't know how to fix that problem. I am sorry if it looks that way on your end.  I also am redoing the site as you read this. I am doing away or did away with the page numbers; eventually I will just have the Months and what blooms in each month, because that is what the Calendar Garden is all about.   
                                      Thank you for visiting the site !

 I am sorry to say we lost Beth Defries, the benefactor of the garden, on December 16th, 2011. She was 90 years old and even though she has passed she will always live on in the garden, which we all have to appreciate because of her generosity. I will personally think of her each spring when the little flowers pop up because that was her favorite time of the year. 
                                             Born: July 26 1921 Passed: Dec.16,2011

We welcome people that want to have small events and small weddings. It is a beautiful place to have either. For information please call the Elkhart County Parks Department at (574)535-6458 and ask for Marlene. She will be happy to help you!                      Thank you, Pam Peterson

The greenhouse was started on Septemeber 1st of 2009 and did not take many days to complete. I did help with the windows on it, along with Jon and Gerald, who actually built it. Its the most wonderful thing to have and we have used it many times.  During the Art in the Park we had in the garden in June of this year, they displayed some of the art in the greenhouse, which looked marvelous, I thought. The Greenhouse was purchased as a kit from a company in British Columbia, Canada.  As of 2012 we now have a wonderful table in the greenhouse and chairs in which to sit and relax so please check that out when you visit. I have pots sitting on the ledge in the greenhouse which have daffodills in and other bulbs that will be blooming soon so its going to be a wonderful site !