VONK, Alice, American gardener, b-1908. Alice was a serious gardener from the age of 8, and began a project in 1954  to develop a snow-white marigold that had to be 2.5 inches across. This was to do with a competition involving a prize of $10,000. In secret, and over a period of 20 years, she achieved this and sent in the only successful entry, a dream fulfilled.