Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 21, 1994 TAG: 9404220217
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RANDY WALKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On that dreary day after Christmas, Pauley, Andrew, now 18, and Carrie, now 22, planted 700 tulip and daffodil bulbs in the Memorial Garden of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Fincastle.
Some seven years later, Richard Pauley was leading an informal tour of the church grounds on a beautiful spring afternoon. Trembling in the breeze were not just 700 flowers, but tens of thousands, a vivid testimony to the labor of Pauley, his family and other church members.
All told, Pauley figures he and his assistants have planted 100,000 bulbs. Most are daffodils, also known as jonquils or narcissus.
``We've got probably at least one of every variety of daffodil or jonquil I know about,'' he says. There are white and yellow daffodils, singles, doubles and multiflorals, long-cupped Rip Van Winkles, Rosy Clouds with peach cups, tiny Minnows and big King Alfreds.
In between are giant hyacinths in various shades of yellow, white, violet, pink and cherry, as well as Grecian windflowers that resemble purple daisies.
Probably the most spectacular are the Emperor tulips that glow with a red so saturated and intense that they look artificial.
``It didn't start out as a grand vision, it just sort of evolved that way,'' says Pauley, who lives in Daleville, where he runs an insurance agency. It all began when Pauley walked into a hardware store that was having a sale on bulbs. Pauley asked for a price on the entire lot, and the offer he received was too good to refuse.
``I bought 'em all without knowing what I was going to do with them.''
He received permission to plant them in the church garden. They were so well received that he decided to plant more. Over the years Pauley has been assisted by his wife, Sandra, their four children, landscaper Dayton Hubbard and Fincastle Mayor Reedie Waid, who serves on the church grounds committee with Pauley. Many bulbs were donated by Kathryn Buhrman; others were purchased through the church's Flower Bulb Fund. About 18,000 bulbs were planted this winter with the help of Jim Workman, the church's new minister.
``We figure we've got three years, maybe four, to finish, to have all the landscaped areas planted in bulbs,'' Pauley says.
Even after the planting's finished, the work will continue.
``We have to cut the fading flower so the plant won't use its energy to make seeds, but rather store it to create a stronger bloom for the next year,'' Pauley says. Most of this work is done by Waid.
Something's in bloom from February to November. Spring flowers include daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and Grecian windflowers. Summer is the season for lilies and foxgloves. In the fall, chrysanthemums bloom until Thanksgiving.
Asked why he puts so much effort into the gardens, Pauley tells the story of a friend's mother who was dying of cancer. A visit to the gardens re-awakened her interest in life and brought a ray of joy.
``My friend said her mother was so taken by the thousands of flowers in bloom that she told the doctor he needed to go see them.''
After her mother died, Pauley's friend sent a thank-you note and a donation to the Flower Bulb Fund.
Many Fincastle residents enjoy the ever-changing colors on a daily basis, and Pauley hopes the flowers will attract out-of-town visitors as well. He says the gardens are a service of the church that everyone can enjoy regardless of religious orientation.
``You kind of leave your troubles behind when you go walking through the flowers,'' he says.
To reach St.Mark's Episcopal Church from Roanoke, drive north on U.S 220 and turn right on Herndon Street in Fincastle. Contributions to the Flower Bulb Fund may be addressed to St.Mark's Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 286, Fincastle, Va. 24090.
by CNB