THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604110138
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DEMPSEY, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Long : 127 lines
CAN 85,000 visitors be wrong?
That's the number of people who now stop each year at the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island, after 36 years of tireless toil by a small but dedicated group of professionals.
Although the endless procession of the seasons produces a continuous set of botanical attractions, visits increase markedly this time of year. Visitors from near and far flock to see dormant perennials and shrubs spring to life and colorful annuals set beds and borders ablaze with color.
There are three distinct kinds of visitors, office manager Barbara Meeh said.
``Regulars'' head the list. Many Outer Banks residents and frequent visitors make repeated trips to the gardens. They come for visual stimulation or spiritual rejuvenation, to relish immersion in nature, or simply to appreciate a rich green contrast to the blues and tans that dominate the coastal landscape.
The second group consists of people who have cultivated a taste for public gardens elsewhere and want to explore the unique features of the Elizabethan Gardens.
They find a diverse garden with something for everyone: formal and natural areas, fountains and statues, native and introduced species, shaded and full-sun areas, a broad selection of specimens from short-stemmed annuals to tall magnolia trees.
They also find a taste of history - Elizabethan decor inside the Gate House and centuries-old oaks whose lives extend back to the Colonial period.
The third and most interesting group of visitors are those who are seeing a public garden for the first time. Meeh described with delight a recent visitor who came with a fatigued and somewhat caustic attitude, almost defying the garden to please him.
An hour later, she said, the man emerged subdued, awed and profusely grateful for the experience.
Visiting the Elizabethan Gardens for the first time is inspiring.
The very first step from the Gate House visitor center into the courtyard gardens propels the visitor into an entirely new world - an enchanting world of almost unrealistic beauty and serenity.
Like a fallen rainbow, the crescent-shaped gardens around the Gate House feature colorful beds of annuals walled in by a curving border of shrubs and hedging.
At the end of the rainbow is the well-labeled herb garden and a glistening white-marble fountain that sparkles in full sunlight.
The visual delights, the floral aroma, the occasional refrain of a songbird, the fluttering wings of visiting butterflies and the stillness - especially the stillness - freeze the visitor in wonder.
A single path from the courtyard gardens tunnels between thickets of ornamentals and beneath the shading canopy to the major segments of the garden.
The sunken garden provides the largest and most formal display area. In the style of the formal gardens of the Elizabethan era, it accents symmetry, geometric patterns and relentless grooming. The skilled hand of man manifests itself everywhere.
A large fountain with statue centers the sunken square. Four large display segments surround the fountain, separated by walkways and enclosed by dwarf yaupon holly around beds of blooming annuals.
Two rows of towering yaupon hollies, meticulously clipped in the tradition of formal gardens, surround the sunken portion. More than 10 feet tall, the stately hollies provide a sense of seclusion and intimacy.
Those who have never seen a formal garden will likely find its workmanship inspiring.
Most of the remaining garden areas are in the informal and natural styles that Thomas Jefferson introduced from England and that flourished in the Victorian period.
Most of the pathways are lined with low, flowering annuals and taller shrubs such as azaleas, hydrangeas, rhododendrons and camellias.
In all, the brochure at the Gate House lists 22 stops along the way, including such distinct areas as the rose garden and the woodland and wildlife garden.
The drive away from the Elizabethan Gardens is a bittersweet experience. A sense of loss accompanies the lingering euphoria of the visit. Perhaps that explains our most ancient religious tradition: The original punishment for mankind was expulsion from the garden.
Fortunately, residents and visitors may recapture a bit of paradise lost at the Elizabethan Gardens. MEMO: ELIZABETHAN GARDENS
Mission: To provide a living memorial to the first English colonists
in the New World during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Location: On the northwestern tip of Roanoke Island, next to the Fort
Raleigh National Historic Site. P.O. Box 1150, Manteo, N.C. 27954.
Phone: 473-3234.
Hours: Open daily from 9 a.m. to dusk, and until 8 p.m. during
summer.
Admission: $3 for adults, $1 for youth 12-17, supervised children
under 12 free. $7 for one-year pass.
Features: 10 acres, parking, rest rooms, plant sales.
History: Created on paper in 1951 by the Garden Club of North
Carolina Inc. Formally opened to the public on Aug. 18, 1960, the 373rd
anniversary of the birth of Virginia Dare, the first child of English
parentage born in the New World. Her statue is featured at the end of
the main axis of the garden.
BLOOM SCHEDULE
January, February: camellias, daphne, pansies
March: camellias, climbing rose, hyacinths, pansies, tulips
April: azaleas, camellias, climbing rose, jasmine, dogwood trees,
hyacinths, pansies, tulips (spring peak is the third week of April)
May: same as April plus roses, herbs (the rose garden and herb garden
peak late in May)
June: summer annuals (begonias, impatiens, salvia, vinca), roses,
lilies, hibiscus, hydrangea, perennials
July: same as June plus the lace cap hydrangea and crape myrtle
trees
(summer peak is the second week of July)
August: annuals and perennials continue, plus ginger lilies and herb
garden sages
September: same as August, plus mums begin
October: full mums with annuals and perennials (fall peak lasts from
late October to early November)
November: camellias, mums and annuals
December: camellias, pansies ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JACK DEMPSEY
The sunken garden at Elizabethan Gardens is a formal garden
accenting symmetry, geometric patterns and relentless grooming.
by CNB