Some of Virginia’s best gardeners are busy right now preparing their private gardens for the Annual Historic Garden Week tour in April.  Visitors are invited to explore not only the interior of elegant homes across the state, they will be able to leisurely stroll through resplendent outdoor spaces at each site.

A major fund-raiser for the Garden Club of Virginia, Historic Garden Week began in 1929 and has raised over $15 million to restore historic Virginia landscapes and gardens that are regularly open to the public.  If you wonder what gardens have been restored, just think of the historic properties of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Henry, Mason, Lee and Wilson, to name a few.  Many Virginians and visitors from afar have paid visits to these and many other of the 40-plus GCV-restored historic gardens in Virginia.

For the gardens on tour, you might think that homeowners simply need to tidy up their gardens in March or April, weed a bit and make sure grass is mowed and borders are edged when the garden gate opens for visitors.  But this is far from reality.  Now is a time of garden preparation, of upgrades, adding and transplanting, pruning, extending gardens and lots of planting.  A flurry of activity will go on until the first visitor arrives.  Each homeowners wants visitors to feast their eyes on picture a perfect garden setting, one that educates as well as provides magic to inspire the over 30,000 visitors across the state.

Gardens are a big part of the tour in Gloucester. Plans are being fine-tuned by both homeowners and tour chairmen. Wonderful individual landscapes will be open, both educational and distinct in design.

I know gardens across the state will be enjoyed by many.  Make sure the gardens in Gloucester are on your list.

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester