Meet Connie Kellam

Her passion:  Growing flowers and teaching others about the joys of gardening – especially her grandchildren.

Her background:  Connie grew up in Norfolk. As a child, Connie admired her two grandmothers’ love of gardens – one a dig-in-the-dirt gardener and the other who would dress up in the morning with hat and gloves to cut flowers and arrange them.

Connie, who graduated from St. Andrews University in Laurenberg, NC, has taught 10^th grade English and helped run Ware Insurance, her family’s business. She is the mother of four adult children and grandmother of 10.

After living in Virginia Beach for 40 years, Connie and her husband, Edwin, moved to Norfolk’s Lochhaven neighborhood 10 years ago. In addition to being an active Master Gardener, Connie is president of the Garden Club of Norfolk, arranges flowers for Church of The Good Shepherd, and is a member of the Lochhaven Garden Club.

Why she became a Master Gardener in 2018: Connie was a Virginia Beach Master Gardener 20 years earlier. She took the Norfolk Master Gardener course to learn more about horticulture and get engaged in her hometown. “I have learned you can never know it all when it comes to gardening,” she says.

Her Master Gardener involvement:  Connie is a Project Leader for the March 31-April 1 Norfolk Master Gardener Plant Sale and Spring Festival at the Hermitage Museum & Gardens. She has worked with previous Norfolk Master Gardener plant sales, is a Hermitage garden docent, and has been on the Significant Tree team.

Connie’s home garden:  Flowers make Connie happy, and she “wants to see flowers everywhere.” Something blooms in her garden 12 months out of the year. “I am constantly buying and trying new plants and moving them around. I can never pass up a plant,” Connie says.