COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- There are 100 gardens covering 301 acres in Colonial Williamsburg: everything from the kitchen garden at the James Geddy House to the sheared hollies and hedges at the Governor's Palace.
Maintaining those gardens keeps 50 volunteers and 50 full-time gardeners clipping, digging and raking. That labor force needs bushels of money for plants, tools and payroll.
Donors recently gave gifts of $200,000 to $2 million to ensure five gardens get what they need to thrive. A small sign in each garden recognizes the contribution.
"These gifts are definitely important to the longevity of gardens at Colonial Williamsburg," says Laura Viancour, coordinator of garden programs. "The gardens take a lot of work."
She's right on the money when she talks about the high-maintenance needs of 18th-century gardens. Frequent shearing keeps topiaries tidy, pruning trains fruit trees to espalier or grow flat on a trellis or wall, and the branches of plants are woven, or pleached, to form living arbors. Plus, there are always thousands of bulbs to plant.
But it's that kind of attention to detail and authenticity that prompts people such as Sylvia Boecker and Michael Jackson of Williamsburg to give money toward the upkeep of the Alexander Craig House Garden. The couple frequently visited Williamsburg before moving there from Virginia Beach and Chicago, and made a habit of buying cookies at the Raleigh Tavern Bakery, which overlooks the garden.
Visitors can easily spot the Alexander Craig House Garden when strolling down Duke of Gloucester Street. It and the other endowed gardens are historically known as "gentry pleasure gardens" with colorful plantings of fall- and spring-flowering bulbs and 18th-century-type annuals and perennials such as johnny-jump-ups, columbine, strawflowers, English daisies and wallflowers. Many of these Colonial-era flowers are not readily available through commercial growers, so staff and volunteer gardeners grow them in eight production greenhouses, Viancour says.
Colonial Williamsburg is also known for utilitarian plantings such as the kitchen garden, a concept that is growing in popularity and use again in today's homes. Usually near the back door, just steps away from the stove, the kitchen garden keeps a cook supplied with fresh vegetables and herbs. These 12 gardens and the Colonial Nursery demonstration site are labor intensive during spring and summer to enable visitors to see how lettuce, beans and carrots are cultivated.
