Step away from the vase (and out of your comfort zone) and give one of these STUNNING displays a try

Photography by Heather Kidd

Special spring events call for statement-making blooms. According to Mary Ellen LaFreniere of Steel Cut Flower Co., one of the biggest mistakes she sees is when people display flowers in vases all over their home. “Focus all of your attention on one area, make that the focal point,” she says.

Ready to try something different? Mary Ellen created three unique options to get you started.

Chandelier

Most people have a chandelier over their dining table, and it’s already a focal point, especially if your event centers around a meal. First, Mary Ellen suggests keeping it simple—choose one color palette or even just one flower. “With one color family, the placement of flowers won’t matter as much,” she says. (In all three of these arrangements, Mary Ellen used tulips, sweet peas, heirloom carnations, peonies, bush ivy and lilies.) For the modern, rectangular chandelier on the previous page, she molded chicken wire into a column shape—to create a base for greenery—then after attaching it to the chandelier, added in flowers throughout. Let the flowers cascade down and be natural, she says, “as a way to liven up the space.”

Tip: For those with traditional chandeliers, Mary Ellen says she would wrap greenery around the center point and then use the fixture’s natural curves as places where flowers would hang down, affixed with small wire hooks.

Chair

An exquisitely decorated chair is perfect for a gathering with a “guest of honor” who will be the center of attention in lots of photos. Mary Ellen used chicken wire molded into a column shape to create the backbone of the arrangement, then fastened it to the chair with boutonniere pins. She suggests starting from the ground and working your way up to create an organic, climbing shape. The goal is to make the greenery and flowers look like they are connected to the rest of the space. “We like for things to look natural, have a liveliness factor. Instead of just a decoration we stuck on the chair,” she says.

Tip: Don’t go overboard. You don’t want this arrangement getting in your guest of honor’s way or dominating photos.

Mantel

A home’s mantel is often already the focal point of the living room. Why not dress it up? Mary Ellen says the goal is to have the arrangement feel as though it’s reaching out into the room. “People tend to go upward on mantels,” she explains. “But due to the height of them, it looks better when they are more at eye level and reaching out.” Also, asymmetry is key to make the arrangement feel more “alive” and less stuffy. Here, you can embrace finicky flowers that don’t always look great in vases (we’re talking about you, tulips) and have them cascading upside down for a modern look.

Tip: If you want the arrangement to last, put shallow bowls or planters on the mantel to keep your flowers in place and watered. For day-of décor, use chicken wire as the structure, and attach to small nails in the back of your mantel.

DOLLY PARTON’S IMAGINATION LIBRARY WILL EXPAND IN LYNCHBURG THIS YEAR

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library, an international initiative that sends free books to children from birth to age five, is extending its reach to additional Lynchburg-area zip codes this year. Local education-focused nonprofit The Aspire Foundation began partnering with DPIL last fall and has since signed up many families who reside in the 24501 and 24504 zip codes.

“When we started the program last September, we didn’t know how fundraising was going to go,” says Aspire Foundation co-founder Mary Omotoye. “We decided to start the program in 24501 and 24504 because according to the U.S. Census Bureau, those are the most socioeconomically challenged areas in Lynchburg. We are happy to announce that we now have enough funding to open the program up to 24502 and 24503 as well in 2020!” Grants from the Schewel Family Foundation, Centra Foundation, Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, and Mustaches 4 Kids increased DPIL funding significantly.

Omotoye first learned about DPIL when she and her family lived in Cleveland, Ohio. She and her husband, Samuel, enrolled their two young sons in the program and received free books for about half a year. When the family moved to Lynchburg, however, they discovered that DPIL was not available. For the Omotoyes, this absence proved to be an exciting opportunity rather than a disappointment.

“I checked the Imagination Library website and found out that in order to be an affiliate of the program, you have to be a nonprofit organization,” Omotoye notes. “I talked to my husband about it and we thought, ‘Why don’t we start a nonprofit?’ We always had it in mind that we eventually wanted to do nonprofit work in the education sphere, so we thought this initiative was a great place to start.” The couple founded the Aspire Foundation in 2018.

Rox Cruz, a local mom and Freedom Schools Site Coordinator for The Listening, Inc., was one of the many parents who was excited about DPIL coming to Lynchburg.

“I am a major Dolly Parton fan, so I’ve known about this program for over 10 years,” Cruz says. “Once I had my first son, I wanted to sign him up for the program right away. We were living in Florida at the time, but unfortunately our zip code was not eligible for the program. I was so stoked to find out we were eligible in Lynchburg!”

Beloved country music artist Dolly Parton founded DPIL in 1995, and the program has since expanded beyond Dolly’s home state of Tennessee to all 50 states and to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland. Childhood literacy is a passion of Parton’s largely due to her own upbringing.

“Dolly Parton’s father was illiterate, and she grew up very poor. Her mission is to provide books for all children, no matter their family’s income,” said Omotoye, who also experienced a humble childhood. “My husband and I are immigrants and didn’t have a lot growing up, but good educations and a love of books and learning helped us find success—I’m a pharmacist and my husband is a physician.”

By 2003, DPIL had mailed one million books, and now the program sends out over one million books per month. DPIL earned the Library of Congress Best Practices Award in 2014, and the initiative’s 100 millionth book was dedicated to the Library of Congress in 2018.

Enrolled children between ages birth and five receive one free, high-quality book each month until they turn six. The books are selected by an expert panel and come from reputable publisher Penguin Random House. Titles are age-appropriate, at least two bilingual titles are sent to each child each year, and DPIL’s partnership with the Braille Institute of America ensures that blind and visually impaired children receive Braille books.

Cruz, whose sons are one-and-a-half and four, is especially grateful for the addition of bilingual books to their home library.

“My husband is Puerto Rican, so it is really meaningful to us that this program occasionally sends out bilingual books,” she says. “I was so excited when my four-year-old received A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats in English and Spanish last month.”

Although DPIL is beneficial for all children in the targeted age range, it is ideal to enroll a child at birth.

“What’s special about this program is that it really starts from birth,” says Omotoye. “We’re really trying to target that age group before kindergarten because there are tons of studies that show that just having books in the home early on in a child’s life—before the child is even talking—is incredibly impactful on brain development and reading readiness.”

Of course, reading to your child is even more beneficial than simply having books in your home. “For parents, the DPIL books are a reminder to be more intentional about sitting down and reading with your children,” Cruz says.

Omotoye adds that DPIL has a “large impact with a relatively low financial input.” It costs $25 per child per year, which comes out to $2.10 per book including shipping costs.

With the upcoming inclusion of additional Lynchburg zip codes, the Aspire Foundation will be focusing on registering new families for DPIL in 2020. Existing partnerships with Miriam’s House, Johnson Health Center, Richeson Drive Pediatrics, the Jubilee Community Center, and Lynchburg City Schools (specifically the Pre-K Headstart program) will continue to raise awareness of and participation in the program, and Omotoye hopes to work with even more community partners this year.

“To register as many children as possible, we want to partner with places that provide services and programs for children,” she says. “We have many wonderful community partners already and are hoping to partner with One Community, One Voice and other organizations in the near future.”

Cruz highly recommends enrolling in the program as a supplement to taking your children to the library.

“We love taking our kids to the library, but this program brings free books to us when we’re too busy to go out or it’s flu season and we don’t want to risk our kids getting sick,” she notes.

Although the long-term benefits of DPIL, libraries, and reading books in general may be lost on little ones, the joy of receiving a free and personalized gift in the mail applies to folks of all ages.

“For kids, it’s simply a gift that they get in the mail,” Cruz says. “There’s a kind of magic in receiving snail mail, especially when you’re receiving something wrapped up with your name on it. My four-year-old thinks Grandma Dolly sends him the books personally!”

To check your family’s eligibility for DPIL, visit aspirefound.org. Although it is possible to register online, Omotoye recommends doing a written registration form at this time. To learn more about DPIL, visit imaginationlibrary.com.

USING FLOWERS AMONG FOOD CROPS

There is a certain satisfaction in seeing crisp, clean rows of tomatoes or tightly packed lines of lettuce. But in my gardening experience, I have found that my plants are happier and healthier when they are given a bit more freedom—not unlike people.

In nature, plants don’t tend to segregate themselves into exclusive groupings, but rather they grow together, mixing and mingling. In doing so, they achieve a symbiosis; they benefit from and protect one another.

Polyculture is an agricultural practice that seeks to mimic this natural diversity by growing a variety of plants together so they can help one another grow. Planting flowers in and among vegetable crops is a wonderful way to naturally promote garden health and, as an added benefit, enhance the beauty of your garden spaces. I personally love gardens that take on a wild, lost-cottage appearance—but flowers don’t have to look messy and haphazard. Considering size and height, complementary colors, and spacing will help to give your garden an elegant, graceful appearance.

However, the main reason to plant flowers alongside your veggies is that they can attract—and repel—insects. As gardeners, there are bugs we like, and bugs we would rather be without. Pollinators such as butterflies, moths, and, of course, bees, are critical to the survival of vegetable gardens. Then, there are the bad bugs: aphids, beetles, leafminers, squash bugs… the list goes on and on. Planting flowers can deter pests by their scent, make it more difficult for pests to travel and spread through your garden, and even attract other insects that eat those pests. >>

Pollinators, Please!

So much of the food we eat relies on pollinators to grow and produce fruit. Planting the right flowers can draw them in and give your garden the boost it needs to be productive.

Bees, well known for their productive pollination in gardens, can’t see the color red. They are especially attracted to blue and violet flowers that smell sweet and provide easy access to nectar. But bees are not the only pollinators we want in our garden! Butterflies and hummingbirds are excellent pollinators too, and they have different mouth-shapes and color preferences. Hummingbirds, for example, love red, cone-shaped flowers and can access nectar that is stored deeper within the bloom. So when in doubt, plant a variety!

Cosmos: Full disclosure, I listed these first because they are my favorite. I love how leggy and wild cosmos grow, especially when planted among sunflowers (which are also great for bees). But these beauties are professional pollinator magnets, with many varieties and colors to choose from. Bees love the purple and pink varieties, while the white sensation variety is especially good for attracting lacewings, who in larvae form have quite an appetite for aphids. Tip: They look stunning among anything that vines or climbs up a trellis.

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea): Bees love this stuff. Their purple, cone-shaped blossoms are the perfect color and shape for our busy, buzzing garden friends. As an added bonus, echinacea is well-known for its immune-boosting, cold-fighting qualities when used in tea.

Zinnias: An excellent choice for the vegetable garden, zinnias attract lots of beneficial insects. In particular, butterflies love them. They are bright and colorful, and provide late-season nectar for pollinators. They also invite beneficial insects, especially Monarch butterflies, to lay eggs in their foliage. They attract hummingbirds, hover flies and wasps, all of which eat up destructive pests. Plant them around your tomatoes to deter worms. If you need more convincing, they make gorgeous cut flowers. You can’t lose with a thick zinnia patch in your garden.

Columbine: Columbine is another personal favorite and has a very interesting history of adaptation to benefit the pollinators that drink their nectar. Biologists have found that the unique nectar spurs, or long tubes that lead to the flowers’ nectar, grow in length based on the tongues of their preferred pollinators. These are a favorite snack of hummingbirds.

Lavender: This divine smelling, purple beauty is a favorite of bees and gardeners alike. You probably already have some in your garden. Consider placing it nearer to your veggies. Choose long-blooming varieties—be sure to leave some uncut—and bees will come from miles around to enjoy the bounty of pollen and nectar that they provide.

Pest Prevention

There are all sorts of things we don’t want in our gardens. Flowers can be used to disguise food crops, confuse and trap harmful pests, and even attract insects that love to feast on all the bugs we don’t like. Better yet, strategically placed flowers are so much better for the garden than chemical pesticides, which can damage soil and stunt growth over time.

Calendula (Pot Marigolds): Who doesn’t love these flowers? Simple, compact, colorful, and late-blooming, pot marigolds are so cheerful and deter all sorts of unwanted insects, such as squash bugs, mosquitos, and lice. Considered a great “trap crop,” calendula attracts pests like aphids and whiteflies and produces a sticky substance that traps these garden pests before they reach your crops. Note: Calendula, an edible, herbal flower, is different from the common marigold, which is toxic when ingested.

Chrysanthemums: Did you know that some brands of bug repellent and pesticides use a chemical extracted from mums (pyrethrin) to deter pests? Not only do these flowers repel pests such as beetles and harlequin bugs, which destroy gardens, they also keep away lice, ticks, bed bugs, roaches, and other universally disliked crawling critters. I like to plant them among squash and potatoes.

Queen Anne’s Lace: A tall, elegant choice for the garden, Queen Anne’s Lace attracts lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies, and a number of other pest-gobbling insects to the vegetable patch. They are also known to give tomato plants a little boost when planted close by! Like many on this list, they will keep coming back year after year and can spread prolifically.

Yarrow: Yarrow is becoming the permaculturists secret weapon. It attracts beneficial insects such as bees and lacewings, provides excellent nesting grounds for these helpful critters, and has a scent that repels garden pests. In fact, it would make an excellent addition to your cucumber patch. To top it all off, yarrow is a beloved medicinal herb, used to control bleeding, pain, and inflammation. It’s also known to fortify garden soil and activate compost. This is a powerhouse of a plant you should always make room for.

Nasturtium: These attractive edibles are another powerful multi-use companion, and they come with a cornucopia of benefits.
The flowers and leaves are edible (and quite tasty) and provide an extensive list of medicinal benefits. They also emit a powerful odor that masks the scent of crops that are often vulnerable to a pest attack. Plant them everywhere, but especially near your brassicas.

Consider experimenting with interplantings of beneficial flowers this spring. You’ll have a great time trying different height and color combinations. When you find yourself spending less time fighting off pest infestations and more time enjoying the beauty and bounty of your garden, you’ll become an instant polyculturalist for life.

General Tips:

Avoid chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
These products can be helpful to the gardener, but often their consequences outweigh their benefits. Pollinators don’t like them, and they can strip soil of its organic qualities. Use natural, cultural solutions when possible, and if chemicals are a must, check to make sure they aren’t harmful to beneficial insects.

Plant in small groups. A single flower is better than no flower at all, but planting in clumps is a good way to attract pollinators. It shortens the distance that they have to travel for food and encourages them to stick around. As pest repellents, groups of flowers perform better.

Shoot for year-round blooms. If you provide a constant food source for beneficial insects, they will return to your yard all year long—and likely make their homes close by. Try to keep something in bloom throughout the year.

Provide other resources. Bees, butterflies, and all of those garden-friendly bugs need more than food to survive. Consider providing housing (bee hotels are really cool, and make for a fun project) and shallow water to encourage long-term residence in your garden.

I joke with my friends when each issue of Lynchburg Living comes out, “This one is my favorite.”

True, there are some magazines that stand out in my mind more than others over the past four years. (And there are a couple that I recall thinking, “Well… we’ll do better next time.” Such is life.)

But for real—this issue is my favorite.

When I look back on how it all came together, two words come to mind: connection and collaboration. Starting last summer, I began organizing what kind of content we would include in our Home & Garden issue. A colleague recommended I check out Jill Rufus’s home in Forest. During our first phone conversation, we connected on so many levels—from how hard it is to balance work and family to our gravitation toward colorful décor. Not only was she a delight to work with on our home tour—“Bold and Beautiful,” page 27—I feel as though I’ve made a friend, and gained a mentor, too.

We also collaborated with several phenomenal local businesses to pull off some stunning Home & Garden content:

I suggested a styled tablescape to Ashley Hilbish at Curtains, Blinds & Bath—done, she said. We needed a location—Adam and Sarah Mullins welcomed us into their Atelier Lynchburg space. Then, Heather Smith of Fleur by Heather didn’t hesitate when asked if she could create centerpieces.

James T. Davis not only agreed to talk paint colors with me, they took it a step further and created full design boards for us.

Mary Ellen LaFreniere, of Steel Cut Flower Co., said “yes” to a relatively late-in-the-game decision to do a photo shoot showing unique ways to decorate with flowers.

These folks made my job easy—I’m grateful for a community that is open to new ideas and creative concepts.

Who are you connecting and collaborating with this year?

I’d love to hear.

All My Best,

Shelley Basinger, Managing Editor
Shelley@lynchburgmag.com

BURKE’S GARDEN PROVIDES A QUAINT AND QUIET GETAWAY

A trip to Burke’s Garden is a trip back in time. Located in remote Tazewell County in Southwest Virginia, this farming community includes 14 Amish families who still rely on horse and buggies and foot-powered scooters for transportation.

Before you enter the valley, you are encouraged to get gas at the intersection of Virginia routes 61 and 623, where old-fashioned pumps require motorists to pay inside. There are no gas stations, or even stoplights, in Burke’s Garden. Route 623 winds through deciduous forests on the north side of Garden Mountain and is the only paved road into the valley. (If you come in the gravel road from the south, it’s suggested you bring a chainsaw.)

The name Burke’s Garden conjures a fertile place full of flowers and vegetables, and while there are some big gardens and a greenhouse, this unique spot in Southwest Virginia is mostly a cattle-farming community.

Vast fields for grazing extend as far as the eye can see when viewed from the southwestern rim of this valley, often called “God’s Thumbprint.” The valley is circled by Garden Mountain and sits 3,100 feet above sea level, making it the highest valley in the state.

My husband and I hiked the 1.5-mile section on the Appalachian Trail to Chestnut Knob for a spectacular view of the valley. The AT continues along the spine of Garden Mountain on its southern rim. The mountains around it rise to 4,408 feet on the ridge of Beartown Wilderness.

The oval, bowl-like valley was once the bed of an ancient sea. About 8.5 miles long and four miles wide, the valley resembles a large volcanic crater, but it was actually formed when underground limestone caverns collapsed. Limestone is reflected in the milky color of the streams that flow through the landscape.

If you are looking for a quiet getaway in a peaceful setting, this is the spot. A few folks have Airbnb rentals, including Tamra Blackburn, who lives just outside the valley. In late September, we spent a lovely three-day weekend in her “Cabin at Little Creek” with a view of the backside of Garden Mountain. Barred owls and screech owls serenaded us at night before we drove into the valley to enjoy one of the darkest skies in the state. The Milky Way shone brightly across the 180-degree sky.

Amish families don’t use electricity and the 300 or so folks who live in the valley are scattered. There are no streetlights or stadiums to pollute the night sky with too much light, making it a perfect spot for amateur astronomers.

We visited Burke’s Garden for its annual Fall Festival, held the last Saturday in September, which attracts nearly 10,000 visitors to this corner of the state. More than 100 vendors sold crafts, art, and food, while local bands played country and bluegrass at the Burke’s Garden Community Center.

Colorful pocketbooks, dresses, brightly painted pumpkins, and waist-high carvings of bears were among the homemade items for sale. Barbecue sandwiches, grilled corn-on-the-cob, warm glazed donuts, and hand-churned ice cream satisfied hungry visitors. Pumpkins, winter squash, mums, and honey were on sale at nearby Rolling Gardens Farm.

Sara White, who has organized the festival for the last two years, said she would like to see it grow even bigger. A native of Burke’s Garden, White said the festival, which just celebrated its 32nd year, used to have more local participants. “When I was little, everybody’s house had something set up,” she said. White would like to increase local participation again. Most of the vendors are from outside of the valley—from nearby hamlets or even West Virginia and North Carolina. Proceeds from the festival help pay for the bands and upkeep of the community center.

We enjoyed the festival, but we also liked the quieter day before, when we ate a buffet dinner at the General Store, run by an Amish family from Ohio. Skylights provided the primary light indoors as the sun sank behind the mountains, and chicken cooked in a smoker outside near the porch, where we ate. The store is full of jams, jellies, candies, and other items produced by Amish in Ohio, while the local, warm homemade bread melts in your mouth.

Mattie’s Place is the only other store and restaurant in Burke’s Garden, located off Gose Mill Road. Her selection of breads is even larger and her breakfasts and lunches are popular among locals and visitors alike. Bicycles are also available for rent at her store.

The Burke’s Garden Artisan Guild is a new arts cooperative that features handmade art of some 40 local artists including giant hex signs, colorful quilts, paintings, wood carvings, and other pieces. Many of the barns around the valley display hex signs.

The clearest symbol of Amish culture, however, is the horse and buggy, which serves as the primary means of propulsion for these people, who speak Pennsylvania German, also known as Pennsylvania Dutch. Schoolchildren use scooters to travel to and from their small schoolhouse in their traditional clothing.

In the 1990s, a small number of Amish families moved to Burke’s Garden, but later they moved out after being unable to purchase enough land and attract enough other Amish families to form a viable community. In recent years, the Amish have returned to Burke’s Garden and have a thriving community.

Long before their arrival, however, the area was occupied by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. Burke’s Garden was first surveyed by Europeans in 1748. One of the surveying party, James Burke, is said to have thrown away or planted some potato peelings while cooking around a campfire. A year later, when the party returned, they found a bumper crop of potatoes. The area was dubbed Burke’s Garden as something of a joke, but the name stuck.

In the late 19th century, agents for the Vanderbilt family tried to buy land for a large estate in Burke’s Garden. Nobody wanted to sell, and the Vanderbilts instead constructed their Biltmore Estate near Asheville, North Carolina.

A National Historic District, Burke’s Garden boasts a Lutheran Church dating to 1871, along with its 180-year-old cemetery.

Burke’s Garden is a popular spot in October, when the mountains blaze with fall color. Winter can be harsh and almost impossible to get in and out during snowstorms. It’s often 10 degrees cooler in this high valley than in the lower ones nearby, which can make it a lovely place to visit in the spring or summer as well.

Bird watchers will find spring and fall migrants as well as year-round residents, including bald eagles.

Whether you come to birdwatch, hike, bike, stargaze, or visit the Fall Festival, Burke’s Garden is a quiet retreat to a slower pace of life, where it’s perfectly acceptable to do nothing at all.

OLD CITY CEMETERY MARKS 25 YEARS OF ITS BELOVED FESTIVAL

With over 700 roses for sale, the Old City Cemetery Antique Rose Festival (April 25 – May 31) is currently the largest public rose sale in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The founding of the festival can be traced back to 1985 and the late Lynchburg resident Carl Cato, who founded the Heritage Rose Group in 1975 and had become quite noteworthy in rose circles. Jane White, the driving force behind the revitalization of Old City Cemetery, met Cato and knew he was just the man who could help her breathe life back into Lynchburg’s “grave garden.”

They started with “The Old Brick Wall”—the 800-foot remains of the cemetery’s 1860s brick boundary wall—where Cato suggested they tell the story of the history of roses in chronological order. Cato got busy formulating his planting plan. His original antique rose collection was planted in 1986 along the old brick wall. The first 60 varieties planted represented rose history from before 1581 through the 19th century.

Meanwhile, Jane White had other dreams—and her wheels really started turning after a trip with a couple of friends to the William Paca House and Garden in Annapolis, Maryland. “They were having the loveliest perennial plant sale where they served rose petal punch and rose petal tea sandwiches. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!” White recalls. On the drive home, the trio was convinced they could do something similar with much success at Old City Cemetery. They shared the idea with Cato, who suggested they make it a “rose cutting” sale—and, so they did.

In the very early days, the roses were all ordered in and they weren’t more than two inches tall. “To look at them you’d wonder if they would survive,” she said. “We had to fluff them up to make them look like anything.”

There were other challenges as well—from the logistics of setting up the sale to organizing the large number of volunteers. “[One of the volunteers] was good at putting up clotheslines and thought that would be a good way to hang up the signs that describe the roses we were selling. With a little practice, we came up with what I think is a pretty good system,” White said.

The festival occurs during the height of bloom yet still in time for roses to be planted before the really hot summer temperatures set in. The roses are started locally at Irvington Spring Farm so they are acclimatized and are more established. The majority of roses for sale today have been started from cuttings from the roses on the grounds. “They look so much better now than they ever did,” White said.

During the month of the sale, people travel from far and wide to shop for roses. Often, rose collectors will have their list in hand as so many of these roses are rare and not available on the market. On opening day, you’ll find a line that extends several blocks as these collectors try to find what they are looking for.

Volunteer rose enthusiasts are on hand to help people make their selections. Carolyn Bell has been a faithful “rose educator” during 15 of the 25 festivals. “I thoroughly enjoy the pleasure of taking a customer from a vague, uncertain starting point, where all they can think of saying is they want ‘something that smells good’ or ‘something they can’t kill’ to finding a rose or roses they’re excited to take home,” Bell explained.

Bruce Christian, former executive director and rose devotee, agrees. “It’s fun to match a person to a species based on maybe three or four wants that person has,” he explained. “Besides, I cannot count the number of people who come looking for something in particular and leave thrilled to have something they might never have considered.”

There is no stereotypical rose admirer. Their reasons for coming to the festival are so different—from young couples looking for something pretty at their new home to those looking for a rose whose color and fragrance reminds them of their mother or grandmother. Bell recalls, “a burly Marine, wearing a baseball cap and a tank top, covered in tattoos, who obviously loved roses and knew a lot about growing them.” At another sale, she recalled speaking to a woman who was choosing a rose to plant at the gravestone of her brother, a service member who had recently died in action.

Now, 25 years later, Old City Cemetery is diversifying offerings available at the sale. Additional roses have been ordered from various sources around the United States. They are selected based on their American Rose Society designation for disease resistance, hardiness and beauty as well as the function they play in the landscape. There are roses that will grow well in pots as well as climbers that will cover a wall.

The sale helps to raise funds for the care of the roses grown on the property. “What Old City Cemetery does a great job of doing is telling the stories of these antique roses and providing a source for them,” said Christian. “I find the tours open people’s eyes to both history and the chance to see and smell up close, putting a face, scent, and touch to ‘the exotic’.”

The cemetery operates under the belief that the more people know about and appreciate these old garden roses the better their chance of long-term survival. “Giving the tours of the roses during the festival adds so much to the people’s experience. Carl Cato’s goal in life was to save these old roses,” White said. “By getting them into the hands of the people we are not only preserving the rose for us, but we’re saving them so they are not lost and forgotten way into the future.”

Why Roses?

Traditionally, roses and cemeteries go hand in hand. Cemeteries are a natural place to find many old rose varieties due to the tradition of families bringing a “slip” from a rose at their home and planting them in the family’s burial plot.

Roses have been used in art as symbols of the resurrection for centuries. During both the pre-Victorian and the Victorian eras, roses were carved as symbols on tombstones that told people passing by about who was “sleeping” there. For example, an unopened rosebud was used on an infant or a very young child’s stone to symbolize the start of life that was cut short. A fully open bloom with a severed stem signifies an adult whose death was sudden and unexpected.

When you come to see the blooming roses during the Rose Festival, you can find some of these stone carvings for yourself.

A Bedford County custom build full of color and contrast

Photos by Laura Beth Davidson

Before Jill Rufus can answer a knock on the front door, the family’s Golden Retriever, Hershey, has long beaten her to it. Almost on cue, the gentle giant lays down on the foyer rug, rolls over onto his back, and stops—hoping for a belly rub from this new stranger-turned-best friend.

It’s a very fitting welcome to the Rufus household. While the impressive craftsman-style home is impeccably styled down to the very last detail, there is a down-to-earth vibe here. From her husband Jim’s obvious aversion to wearing a tucked-in button down and khakis to Jill’s easy and approachable conversation, this is a place where it’s okay to kick off your shoes and be yourself.

Jill and Jim—owners of real estate and rental investment company The Rufus Group—stumbled across the “Tranquility” house plan by Garrell Associates while attending a party at a friend’s house in 2012. With four sons—now ages 16, 17, 18 and 20—they were outgrowing their current space, a traditional historic home.
“What sold us on [the new house] was the open spaces, and I liked the different levels of the ceilings,” Jill said, adding that only three homes of this style have been built in the Lynchburg area. “It’s not cookie cutter.”

Neither are Jill’s décor choices—she’s not afraid to mix colors, patterns and textures. “I’ve just always been attracted to color,”
Jill said. Turquoise is one of her most-used hues.

The living room is especially vibrant with its floor-to-ceiling wall featuring patterned hardwood tiles from Mirth Studio, based in Charleston. “I call this my Charleston room,” Jill said. The couch, zebra-inspired ottoman, and large floral oil painting over the fireplace are all Charleston finds.

While Jill has always been a do-it-yourself kind of person, (she also is part owner of Ideal Cabinets of Lynchburg and oversees kitchen designs and other renovation projects regularly), she recalls a gentle nudge to get some design help as they built. “We were about 25 percent in when the kitchen designer said, ‘do you not have an interior designer?’” Jill recalled. “It had never dawned on me at all.”

The friend with the same house plan they saw at that party, Kate Avello, agreed to take on the job. Because she had lived in the same house, and had a similar modern style to Jill’s, it was an easy fit. “We had a really good time together,” Jill said.

Instead of always focusing on perfection, Jill loves to talk about all of the things that went wrong throughout the building process—but ended up being “happy accidents.”

In the keeping room right off the kitchen, dark wood, mirrored inserts frame the fireplace and instantly catch the eye. They were designed by a jeweler-turned-home builder, who also does other custom projects. He laser cut the design, but the final pieces were too small. “Jimmy did the measurements one day, and I took a pic of those and sent them to the builder,” she explained. “Well, apparently Jimmy’s 7 looked like a 1.”

This led to a months-long back and forth between the designer, decorative painter, installation crew and mirror company to come up with a plan to salvage the original design: “But it was all worth it in the end,” she said.

There are other “happy accidents” in the kitchen—featuring antique white cabinets and a leathered granite in Antarctica white.

The Rufuses chose to not only increase the size of the island but also double stack the granite—which caused the slab to sag. Jill had meticulously measured the space and bought chairs. At first, she was frustrated they wouldn’t fit with the added support posts. “Our builder said, ‘Jill… put two of the chairs on each side. You’re going to have better conversation that way.’ Now, I love that.”

The kitchen is truly the heart of the Rufus home. “We usually eat right here [at the island],” she said. “The computers go up and everyone just hangs out.”

It’s also a place that Jimmy shows off one of his hidden talents. “His degree is in hotel/restaurant management. He does everything involving cooking,” she said. “I don’t cook at all!”

The Rufuses enjoy hosting dinner parties in their formal dining room a few times a year. But even when they aren’t expecting company, the table is always set. “Every time people come over they are like, ‘Are you about to have a party?’ For my eye, I like to see that it looks put together and not empty.”

A herringbone dresser in the dining room ties into the other black and white accents found in the home. It’s the only piece of furniture that came from their old house, a $300 auction win. “Other things I’ve shed,” she explained, “but that will always stay with me.”

In the master bedroom, the brighter colors found in the rest of the home are taken down a notch—including the classic drapes, a $50 find from Estates and Consignments. Chandelier-style lamps give the room another touch of elegance.

On the tray ceiling, a decorative painter, who also did work in other parts of the home, created a unique bronze design. Again, Jill wasn’t worried about perfection. “Kate called me and said, ‘Jill, it’s not even.’ I said, ‘No, I kind of like it like that.’ Because the painter freehanded it. And it’s another part of the story of this house.”

Jill and Jim reminisced about another “happy accident” many years ago. With two young sons already, they were finalizing plans to adopt a newborn baby boy, when Jill found out she was pregnant. “My life at that time was a blur,” she said. “Is he a happy accident? He is. I would have definitely been done after our third.”

Opening their home to a child in need came second nature to the Rufuses. Jill’s previous career was running an infant adoption agency. It was also in this season where she developed a passion for interior design. “I would go on these home visits all over the state and was just wowed by some of the interiors I saw,” she said.

The main level powder room is the room for the daughter Jill never had, she joked. It’s the smallest, but loudest, room in the house—inspired by the beachy prints of
Lilly Pulitzer. “The boys will bring the girls they are dating in here and show it off,” she laughed.

The Rufuses four sons all live at home and have plenty of space to themselves. Right off the foyer is a set of open stairs leading to the basement, where there are three of the boys’ bedrooms, a kitchen, billiards room and home movie theater.

It’s a major upgrade from their last home, where all of the boys shared one bathroom. While Jill certainly has moments where she misses their younger years, she’s also the type of mom who thrives in the present. “Years ago, my first house was very matchy matchy. It looked like kids lived there and I wanted it to look that way,” said Jill. “But I knew once my kids were older, I could really invest in stuff that would stay nice. Once that time came, I knew and did exactly what I had always wanted to do.”

“Best Of” Omission
We made a mistake and accidentally omitted the Best Tattoo Studio category from our Best Of Lynchburg Awards featured in the January/February issue. We have apologized to those affected and have taken steps to make sure this clerical error doesn’t happen in the future. Below are the following winners in that category:

Gold
Kiss of Ink Tattoo

Silver
Caspian Tattoo

Bronze
Jesse James Ink Tattoos

Honorable Mention
Lucky Penny Tattoos
S and J Visual Art Productions

Great Job!
“Tobi, thank you for doing such a great job writing the feature about Gospel Community Church! We love it, and think you did a fantastic job weaving together so many details and elements from the history to current day. Shelley, thanks for including us and please thank Chris, as always, for a fantastic layout and eye-catching design; the whole book is a great issue—kudos!” – Jennifer Redmond, Communications Director at Gospel Community Church (“New Life,” January/February 2020)

“I just read your article on hugelkultur from January 1st and was blown away that other people in Lynchburg care about permaculture design! Do any of you know of any local permaculture groups, clubs, or communities here? Great article, by the way!” – Nate Hornbeck, (“Hugelkultur,” January/February 2020)

Top Teacher Tour
Editor Shelley Basinger was determined to surprise each of our 15 Top Teachers at their schools this year. So in January, she scheduled 15 school visits in roughly three weeks. It was a lot of work—but it was more than worth it to make these teachers smile! Here is a look at a few of her visits:

“I was so surprised and excited to receive this award! What an honor!” – Kate Dillard, surprised at the Altavista Elementary faculty meeting

“Thank you for stopping by yesterday, Shelley. What an honor.” – Elizabeth Wendland, surprised during class at the Bedford Science and Technology Center

“Thank you for the presentation you made at our faculty meeting last week. I was caught completely off-guard!” – Mike Bremer, surprised during a faculty meeting at Sandusky Middle School

“That was sweet of you to take the time to come to our school to present the award. I am very appreciative of the honor…” – Lynn Tolley, surprised in front of an assembly at Amelon Elementary School

“Thank you so much for surprising me with the beautifully framed and matted award, it was such an honor to receive.” – Yvonne Hansotte, surprised during a horticulture class at Brookville High School

“I was totally surprised and consider it such an honor!” – Fred Schmidt, surprised while he taught math at Jefferson Forest High School

We Want To hear From You!
Send us an e-mail to shelley@lynchburgmag.com. Correspondents must identify themselves; names may be withheld on request. Lynchburg Living may edit or condense.

Local photographer Laura Beth Davidson’s youngest daughters (twins) received this cardboard box for their third birthday in October and quickly took it outside. Their two older sisters joined the fun—and soon, her 8-year-old got a little creative. “Of course, just playing in the house would have been too simple,” Laura Beth joked. She grabbed her camera to capture the “mobile” home as it moved around in circles on the driveway. “Life with four children is exhausting,” Laura Beth said, “but it is certainly never boring!”

Photo by Laura Beth Davidson