Sisters' garden attracts visitors

After a big ball of pollen fell on Barbara Stiles' head in her garden Monday afternoon she had to rush to clean up for her guests.

It was her 94th birthday and she and her twin sister Bernice Wade were expecting company to help them celebrate.

But guests aren't unusual for the twins. Their home on Gimghoul Road in Chapel Hill surrounded by lush blooming flowers and trees has become a local destination of note" drawing visitors from the University and the country alike.

""It's small and modest" but absolutely heavenly" Wade said.

Wade moved into the neighborhood from Arizona with her husband after he ended military service in 1944. Soon after, the young couple hired a local man — and his mule — to plow the yard around their new home.

He took a dead country garden and turned it into a beautiful flower bed and lawn"" Wade said.

Stiles moved in with Wade in 1978 after her husband died. She and her sister have been watching the garden and its constant stream of visitors ever since.

A small green sign is planted every spring by the front lawn, proclaiming The Garden is Open.""

The sign was a necessity" Wade explained. Too many people were ringing the doorbell and telephoning" asking to come and see the garden.

""People should just come and go" Wade said. That's the way. The garden's open" and you're free to come.""

On sunny spring weekends" pedestrian traffic is heavy in the garden. Friends old and new stop  by to take in the sisters' work.

The sisters used to tend the garden themselves planting" weeding and watering the hundreds of colorful flowers that dot their lawn.

""Bernice had to teach me all about Southern gardening"" Stiles said.

But age and the growing size of the garden eventually caught up to the twins, forcing them to hire some help.

We can't see a weed from a seedling" Wade said.

So two medical researchers in the UNC Hospitals system and a local high school student have taken up the garden's duties.

We enjoy the garden but they execute it" Wade said. They own the garden now.""

Neighbors said the garden really belongs to everyone. Visitors come back year after year" bringing their families. Wade's daughter said one local family even sends pictures to their daughter who has since moved away.

And it's the garden that keeps the sisters going strong" even at 94 years old.

""It's an old garden" but we add new things every year" Wade said. Some of the azaleas in the garden are more than 60 years old.

The flowers are like old friends, she said, keeping track of the time.

We count our years by the spring"" Wade said.

We live our lives from spring to spring.""



Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.