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From a few spare rhododendrons in his Sharon backyard to nurturing over 400 different types of the plant on his 3.6 acres, Charlie Keegan didn’t expect to be spending an extra 40 hours each week dedicated to his yard. But among the green, pink, purple, orange and white flourishing around their home is the apricot cream rhododendron named best in show at this year’s American Rhododendron Society competition.

Keegan and his wife Constance joined the society after a visit to a gardening show in 1994, and were given a list of plants from which to begin their rhododendron-filled second career.

"We didn’t know anything," said the 66-year-old Keegan.

Beginning with a few three and four dollar potted plants bought from other members, the Keegans cleared out land and installed a specialty fence to keep deer away from their hard work. Ten years after submitting their first cutting to be judged, they took home best in show among forty other competitors at the 2007 judging in May.

"It presented well," said Keegan. "Mother nature did the work."

Friend Linda Badoian, who knows the Keegans through gardening, said she thought the couple was surprised they won the show.

"They were just so tickled and so pleased and nobody knew," said Badoian.
Entrants select a cutting of their best plant, where they are judged for their appeal, grooming and how difficult it is to grow.

"Massachusetts is not the best place to grow," said Keegan, who said his wife selected the cutting in the dark of night.

But after choosing the cutting as close to the show as possible, keeping the selection fresh is key.

"You take what you have [from what’s in season]," said Keegan. "The plant’s there only for a short lifetime. It’s not like a dog that you can just re-groom."

Evident of the short life of plants is Keegan’s Moose Hill Parkway backyard, called "the Garden of Eden" by friends, where they have lived since 1990. Throughout a tour of his work, he laments how different the plants look from just two weeks ago, the peak of most of the rhododendrons’ bloom.

"There’s interest in the bloom, but that’s not it totally," said Keegan, strolling the pathways snaking around his yard. "It’s the structure of the plant. That’s what you see 52 weeks a year."

Rhododendrons are "a man’s plant," said Keegan, because of its green and woody nature. While gardening clubs usually boast mainly women, most of the Rhododendron Society’s members are male.

 "Most people think rhododendrons are only purple, white and pink," he said.
Keegan, a former auditor for the Commonwealth before retiring in 2003, found himself interested in the plant after a client inquired about what kind of plants he had in his yard.

 "The bug catches you," said Keegan. "While I was working, I had a second full-time job."

Now Keegan, who drives through his yard on a tractor boasting a "I’d rather be driving a Titleist" bumper sticker, has a new goal of transplanting 75 plants a year from their current positions to other parts of his yard – "a work in progress."

 "As these plants grow up, it’s hard to keep up with them," he said of his "nurseries gone wild." "I’m working too much to enjoy them."

Keegan also plans to stay involved with the Rhododendron Society, which boasts over 300 members in its Massachusetts chapter.

 "The people in the Rhododendron Society, they’re pretty healthy and they live a long life," said Keegan.

"There’s no green thumb, it’s a strong back," he joked. "Young people aren’t strong enough for this stuff."