Charles Warner|Daily Times Billy Thompson stands beside the many flowers he has planted in pots and in the ground at his home at 309 Ravenscroft St. He said he plants new flowers every year in memory of his wife and his mother, both of whom he said were avid gardeners.

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Charles Warner|Daily Times The variety of flowers planted by Billy Thompson at his home at 309 Ravenscroft St. line the ramp between his front porch and the sidewalk, the porch itself and the front yard.

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The flowers that surround a Union man’s home are a tribute to the memory of his wife and his mother.

For all but one of the past 10 years, Billy Thompson buys a variety of flowers and plants them in pots and in the ground around his house at 309 Ravenscroft St., Union.

“I’ve got Begonias, Petunias, Mums, Marigolds, and Impatiens,” Thompson said. “I get them every year from Sanders Garden Center. I plant them in arrangements and while I get new ones every year a lot of those I’ve planted in the past come back again.”

Thompson said the large number of flowers and the wide array of colors often have people stopping to look at the flowers he’s planted in his lawn around his house and in the the pots on the porch and the ramp leading to the sidewalk.

While he didn’t have them one year, Thompson said he has planted them for nine of the last 10 years. He said he enjoys gardening, but said that his enjoyment is not the main reason he plants them.

“I plant them in memory of my wife Dorothy, she loved flowers, she loved gardening,” Thompson said. “I also plant them in memory of my mother Annie May. She also loved flowers and loved gardening.”

Thompson said that people are welcome to come by and see his flowers and take pictures of them if they want.