ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250030
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
COME SEE WHY the members of Williams Memorial Baptist Church are so devoted to chrysanthemums.
Some 16 years ago, the Rev. Paul E. Johnson, pastor of Williams Memorial Baptist Church in Roanoke, discovered that some members of his congregation were staying home on Sundays during September and October to water their chrysanthemums in careful preparation for an upcoming flower competition.
To show his errant flock, who belonged to a local chrysanthemum club, that you could attend to both plants and prayer, Johnson started his own small bed of mums at his farm, planning to give up the pastime once he'd proved his point.
Instead, he unwittingly fell victim to unwritten rule No. 1 for growing chrysanthemums: It's incredibly easy to get hooked. And, true to this rule, Johnson and his wife, Roberta, have been competing in mum contests ever since.
In fact, this weekend Williams Memorial Baptist Church will be host for the 19th annual Chrysanthemum Extravaganza sponsored by the Skyline Chapter of the National Chrysanthemum Society.
There are other rules for devoted mum growers as well. There is pride at stake, too.
"If a chrysanthemum person tells you we don't have any blooms, usually that means they've got a lot of them," said grower Mary Gravely.
"But I am telling you the truth. I don't have one big bloom," grower Evelyn Fizer protested recently, pounding a table top for emphasis.
"Well, maybe I've got just a few," she admitted after a brief pause.
The good-natured bantering between Gravely, a Skyline member for nearly 10 years, and Fizer, a member for about 15, revolved around whose plants would appear in a photo to accompany this story. The women were certain that their mums, although not picture-perfect for the newspaper's deadlines, would be ready in plenty of time for the show.
That assumes that the soil, food, moisture, temperature, light and other critical growing factors for mums all are favorable.
"These flowers are just like babies; you've got to watch them and tend them every minute," said the pastor's wife, Roberta Johnson.
She joined the Skyline club about 14 years ago mostly in support of her husband, not because of any keen interest in the plants. Today, she is the chapter's president, an avid chrysanthemum enthusiast and a competition judge. Paul Johnson is a past chapter president and co-chairman of this year's show. (See unwritten rule No. 1.)
Paul Johnson recounts his introduction to chrysanthemum growing in Episode 129 of "A Gardener's Diary," a 1995 documentary by Acme Gardener's Productions Inc., which occasionally is shown on Blue Ridge Public Television.
The documentary was made in part because the Skyline group is the only all-black chapter among the 45 chapters in the Fairfax-based National Chrysanthemum Society.
Skyline, which has about 15 members, was formed in 1974 by some flower fans who had attended exhibits by Roanoke's Blue Ridge Chrysanthemum Society.
"We felt we could grow as well as Blue Ridge did," said Lillian Carter, one of the chapter's charter members.
Indeed, Skyline did a fine job of growing mums, learning from veteran flower enthusiasts such as Carter, who also is active in the Ideal Garden Club.
Through the years, the members also learned a fair amount bugs, snails, groundhogs, squirrels and other deterrents to growing prize-winning mums.
One year, for instance, cows ate the Johnsons' planned entries in the annual fall contest.
One member started growing mums in a wagon so she could move them to the sun or away from the cold. Evelyn Fizer even developed her own bug spray made from cigarette butts.
As the chapter blossomed, members went on to win numerous local and national trophies. The group also developed a unique in-chapter award system, wherein members contributed silver serving pieces, which winners keep for the day of the awards but then return to the club's archives. "To watch from whence you start to the complete or final bloom - that really is the reward," Fizer explained.
This weekend's exhibit will include irregular incurves, spiders, pompoms, trees, miniatures, semi-doubles, bonsai and other mums from the thousands of varieties that exist. There also will be some instruction on using mums in table settings and other arrangements.
Finally, when the show is over, the beautiful cut blooms, which will last about two weeks in water, will be delivered to shut-ins, or given to attendees who might be interested in trying to grow chrysanthemums themselves - that is, as long as they understand the rules.
* The 19th annual Chrysanthemum Extravaganza is being held at Williams Memorial Baptist Church, 2105 Carroll Ave. N.W. in Roanoke on Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday, noon-3 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 366-5260.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. (From left) Evelyn Fizer, Roberta Johnson, and herby CNBgrandson, Lelyn Johnson, and Lillian Carter and Mary R. Gravely
visit Fizer's greenhouse of chrysanthemmums. 2. A mum from Evelyn
Fizer's greenhouse. color.