THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407080294
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
A few establishments around the area say it with flowers, literally.
Thalia Shell at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Constitution Drive urges you to ``STOP N'' in begonias, and the Burger King restaurant at Janaf shopping center in Norfolk lets you know you're at a ``BK'' in begonias, too.
The grandest plant word of all in these parts is ``CAVALIER'' written on the hill at the old Cavalier Hotel on Pacific Avenue. ``CAVALIER'' is spelled out in a greenish grass called liriope planted against a bed of white stone.
The Norfolk Botanical Gardens has no plant words but they recognized the 25th anniversary of the state slogan, ``Virginia is for Lovers,'' with pink and red begonia hearts. The only trouble is the hearts are meant to be seen from a lookout that had to be closed due to structural problems, said Janel Leatherman, director of visitor services at the gardens.
Perspective is everything when it comes to plant words or pictures. Leatherman noted that in Victorian times, some plant words or pictures were designed for home gardens specifically to give residents a view from a second-story window.
The folks at the Shell station and at Burger King have built a berm on which to do their plant writing. The terraced hill at the Cavalier Hotel provides a natural slant.
While the word ``CAVALIER'' has remained the same for almost five years, William P. Edney and son Bill redo the plant words at their Shell station every summer. In the last presidential election year, the word in flowers was ``VOTE,'' and during the Olympics the begonias touted ``USA.'' Begonias have also told motorists to ``SMILE'' and only one year was the flower word the obvious ``SHELL.''
``My wife and I come up with the sayings,'' Bill Edney said, ``and my dad comes up with the design.''
Edney says folks from out of town stop by just to see what plant word they've chosen for the year. Others are curious enough to stop by in spring to ask what the plants are going to say in summer.
``But I say,'' Edney went on, ``you'll have to wait and see.''
Phil Pitsielis, manager at the Janaf Burger King, wants his flowers to speak year-round. This winter he plans to replace the begonias with red and white cabbage. Pitsielis got the idea for saying ``BK'' with flowers from a trip he took to Kings Dominion as a little boy. He remembered seeing some plant pictures or words there and asked a landscaper to create the effect in front of his Burger King.
``I was trying to come up with something that would be attractive,'' Pitsielis said, ``and attract some attention, to tell you the truth.''
The notion of writing and drawing with plants dates to the 1600s. Leatherman did a little research for me and discovered that French gardens at that time featured not only knots, but letters, coats of arms, even men and animals drawn or written primarily in herbs.
In Victorian England, ``carpet bedding'' became popular, Leatherman said. Carpet bedding was the term given to the use of dwarf green plants laid out in various designs because the little plants could be easily clipped and maintained to look almost like carpet pile.
One of the early carpet beddings in words was an HS pattern laid out in the garden of Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland. Plant words began to be used in the gardens of the wealthy like vanity license plates are used today.
Later they also became commercial. Leatherman discovered that purists were dismayed in 1876 by a 100-yard long bedding that advertised the ``Glasgow Herald'' newspaper.
Today, however, saying it in flowers beats a billboard any day. MEMO: Tell me about plant words or designs you've seen in the area. Call me
on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter category 2290. Or, send a computer
message to my Internet address: mbarrow@infi.net. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
The grandest plant word of all in these parts is ``CAVALIER''
written in grass against white stone on the hill at the old Cavalier
Hotel on Pacific Avenue.
by CNB