60 | July/August 2018
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And then there are the people in his life. Mercer has
named several flowers for his wife, Maureen, including
Awesome Maureen and Maureen's Rainbow. Many are
named for people he worked with at e Fayetteville
Observer and its predecessor papers (e Fayetteville
Times and e Fayetteville Observer-Times), including
former copydesk chief Charles Rondinelli, former
managing editor Michael Arnholt and co-workers
Webster Lupton and Suzanne Schubert. He once
named a flower for a stranger who called him and
begged him for the honor. She never contacted him
again.
Mercer has done plenty of other things along
the way, including serving as an infantry officer in
Vietnam, attending law school and playing saxophone
in a '60s pop band that had two Top 10 hits. He still
plays the sax today with a local rock band named
Almost Tomorrow, aer one of his daylilies.
He grows plenty of other plants, including camellias,
magnolias and azaleas.
And he is one of the key founders of the Cape Fear
Botanical Garden. In 1989, the garden was just a vision
– a grand one – conceived by Mercer, Martha Duell and
Bruce Williams. Over time, their vision turned a one-
time city park into what's now a 70-acre botanical jewel
that's become a magnet for visitors and events. Mercer
knows every inch of the place and can walk through
talking knowledgeably about every plant.
But one plant remains his primary passion.
"I just want to make good daylilies," he says.
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Rock Without
The Hard Edge
for Fayetteville.
And Local News updates throughout the day.
