Dan Leininger's Exeter Township garden is filled with special plants, objects and memories.

There’s a rain lily that was originally a gift to the grandmother of Dan’s wife, Gretchen, in the early 1900s that has been nurtured and passed along from generation to generation.

There’s a bluebird house that’s home to baby birds and a pond filled with koi and topped with water lilies. There are blueberry and black raspberry bushes that yield enough fruit for Gretchen to make a few pies each year.

And there’s a vegetable garden where Dan and Gretchen’s granddaughters harvest the day’s pick when they come to visit.

Dan and Gretchen and members of their family were delightful hosts during a recent visit to their garden.

You’ve got a lot going on in your yard. How do you decide what to plant and where to put it?

Dan’s gardens contain a large variety of plants, along with many feeders to attract birds. He keeps feeders and flowers close to the house and the side porch for Gretchen, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, to enjoy.

“This is our little mecca,” Dan said. “It’s our stay-at-home happy place.”

Your gardens are well established. How long have you been working on them?

Dan, who taught German in the Wilson School District for 33 years and then served as a substitute teacher for another 10 years before retiring, started gardening in the mid-1980s. He found that he had a knack for it and enjoyed it, and has been going ever since.

So, can you tell me about this special rain lily?

Gretchen’s father had three sisters, all of whom were born in the early 1900s. All of them died within a year of one another from tuberculosis.

“The minister of the church gave a fairy lily, also called a rain lily, to my grandmother in 1920,” Gretchen explained. “We’ve kept it going ever since.”

Does the pond require a lot of upkeep?

Dan and his son dug the pond themselves and keep it stocked with colorful koi. It is home to a variety of plants, including beautiful waterlilies.

“The pond is really crowded with plants, but you should keep a pond 85 percent covered, because it helps to keep the algae down,” Dan said.

You’ve got a large variety of flowers and then the vegetable garden, as well. That’s a lot of work.

Dan grows peppers, eggplants, okra, squash and other vegetables in special growing boxes, which minimizes work once the planting is done. Over the years he has developed a system for maintaining the gardens, although he does spend many hours working in the yard. A particularly time-consuming task is maintaining the large patch of caladiums that provide bright color in a shady area behind the house.

“Those are an annual project,” he said. “I have to dig out the bulbs in the fall and replant them in the spring. But I love them for their colors.”

Can you describe your gardening philosophy?

Dan is an extremely positive person who is not afraid to experiment with his gardens. He enjoys spending time with his granddaughters, Danica and Rebecca Dryka of Limerick Township, Montgomery County, and is teaching them about gardening. On the day of our visit, Dani, 7, and Becca, 5, were picking vegetables from the garden. Like most gardeners, Dan sometimes has trouble with a particular plant or flower, but he remains upbeat.

“I think the thing about having a garden is to remember that, no matter what the weather is, there’s something that will do well,” he said. “So, if you stay positive and not be afraid to try different things, it will all be OK.”