THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407220241
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
For Alice and Kenneth Jordan of South Norfolk, June winners in the local Yard of the Month competition, their flowers and blooming bushes are more than just pretty living ornaments to make their home and property beautiful.
They're more like close friends and members of the family.
No, the Jordans aren't tree-hugging environmentalists, and they don't have weird fixations; it's just that a lot of their bushes and flowers have direct links to loved ones, relatives and favored places.
Take their red spider lilies, for example.
Whenever it blooms, Kenneth thinks of his late uncle, Willie Daily of Texas. Uncle Willie was a favorite of Jordan's who used to visit his home near South Norfolk's Lakeside Park.
The lilies were cultivated from bulbs Uncle Willie brought to Chesapeake from his Texas home, Alice said. They've been producing healthy blooms for 35 years.
``The lilies are lovely and bloom every year,'' she said. ``When they do, we always remember Uncle Willie. We refer to them as Uncle Willie's red lilies.''
Then there's their radiant purple azalea bush.
It's been flowering every year since 1953 when Kenneth's good neighbors Doria and Sadie Balance gave it as a gift when he moved away from his boyhood home to his present house.
``They were like a grandmother and grandfather to my husband when he lived next door to them,'' Alice said. ``In those days, neighbors were more like your relatives. Mr. Balance passed away a few years ago, and now when it blooms, Kenneth looks at it and says, `Mr. Balance would have liked that.' It gives us a chance to think about him and remember the good times.''
Alice has her own blooming memories, too.
Whenever her hydrangea plant produces its beautiful blue flowers, she thinks of her late mother, who lived to be 93.
The shrub was started with a cutting from a 100-year-old bush that grew on her mother's North Carolina farm. Alice thinks her mother's and her family's spirit flourishes in that healthy, historic hydrangea.
The Jordans even have a bit of the Outer Banks around their Chesapeake home. When not enjoying their gardening, they try to get away to their North Carolina beach cabin.
``We have what is called lace capes around our cabin,'' she said. ``It dominates the Nags Head area. We've taken cuttings of them and planted them around our house. It always reminds us of the Outer Banks.''
And don't forget Kenneth's ``children.'' They come in a variety of colors - red, white, yellow, pink and more.
``My husband loves roses,'' Alice said. ``It takes a lot of work and knowledge to raise roses. To take care of roses is like taking care of children.''
She said her husband's 50 roses all come from prize-winning lines and helped dazzle judges for the Yard of the Month contest sponsored by the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council.
``They're all absolutely gorgeous,'' she said proudly of all her flowers and bushes. ``I kind of like to think they all have a meaning, a good memory. They all mean a lot to us.''
- Eric Feber by CNB