Donna Adams so loved her Southwestern-style home in Sedona, Ariz., that she rebuilt it in western Lawrence on a hill overlooking Lake Alvamar.

Her love of plants also made the move to the Midwest.

“I had my first row of zinnias when I was 6. I cannot imagine not being surrounded by flowers,” she says. “Gardening is just good … for your soul. It feels good to dig.

“I think I’m just one of these people who need to be surrounded by flowers and houseplants indoors to feel happy.”

That might explain why Adams always seems to be smiling.

We step out onto her adobe-covered patio, where ivy crawls above our heads like a labyrinth of criss-crossing vegetative arms. A lion’s head fountain sends the soothing sounds of trickling water echoing off the dense patio pillars. A row of enormous terra cotta pots of various shapes holds an assortment of large conifer trees that add wonderful texture and lend even more privacy to this secluded hilltop vista.

A bird swoops by, and Adams takes note.

“I do love birds,” she says. “I have an indigo bunting and a goldfinch and a red bird, and I thought, ‘That’s too good!’ Then I had a wild turkey the other day. It is wild here. We have bobcats, coyotes, lots of rabbits and moles. You just never know what you might see on any given morning.”

We move on to a challenging part of Adams’ yard, a steep sloping hill that she has embedded with an assortment of flora. There are sun ferns of bright chartreuse, weeping willows, lavender and orange daylilies, and a plethora of tuberoses.

“A friend of mine gave me a start of tuberoses,” Adams recalls, “and now the whole hill just smells so sweet. I do have to dig them up, though. I did purchase some boots in Oregon, where it rains all the time. They have golf cleats on them to grip on my hill. Otherwise, I think I’d slide right down.”

Across a small patch of thick, green grass, an unexpected garden is nestled into the back of the lot, butting up against the underbrush of the forest beyond. A canopy of trees and the early morning rains make the temperature feel about 10 degrees cooler in this mossy, secret garden. We enter through a rusty iron gate with rock-post heads. A staddle rock formation sits near the entrance as well. Retired from its days of holding up a barn in the English countryside, it now rests placidly as a place for birds and squirrels to take a breather.

Adams professes her love for rocks as she bends over and points out a stone reminiscent of an Easter Island face profile. The fence that encloses the secret garden is composed of an array of different iron pieces. She explains that what she originally had envisioned as a wild space turned into a sculpture showplace after she found a boy-and-girl statue in Santa Fe, N.M.

Also in the garden is a beautiful stone relief from France of a woman who has just finished bathing. Lush ferns and hostas frame the base of the statue. A magnificent birdbath from a public fountain in China is snuggled in nicely near some wild ginger.

Adams’ favorite artwork in the garden is “Peace Keeper,” a bronze piece that depicts a boy helping make amends between his two canine companions who are in deep trouble with a cat. Oddly enough, there’s no place to sit in this garden where there’s so much to see.

“I’m no good at sitting,” Adams says. “If I sit, I would just see something to do and get up to do it.”

Adams keeps herself surrounded by beautiful art indoors, as well. Blown glass works, paintings and sculptures – most of which have a Southwestern sensibility – adorn the interior of her home.

She knows the minute she sees something in the art world that calls to her.

“When I walk into a gallery, I’ll see a piece and know,” she says. “The same is true of the garden art. Most of my influences come from the Southwest and living in Sedona. My dog, Lady, and I go on a lot of road trips where we will find great art pieces.”

Adams truly has created a Southwestern garden extraordinaire in the heart of the Midwest.