LADY BUG...COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG PERFECT SEMINAR SETTING

Each season brings its magical charm to Colonial Williamsburg. Spring has the lushness of growth, beautiful flowers of shrubs, trees and bulbs combined with the green of nature. How appropriate for the Garden Writers Association of America to hold their Spring Garden Symposium there at this time of year.

The timing was perfect last week with the redbuds in lush bloom, both pink and white dogwood, apple, apricot, plum and peach cherry blossoms, lilacs, daffodils, English bluebells, tulips, narcissus, hyacinths, tulips (by the thousands) violets, primrose, squilla, and pansies everywhere.

Making Gardens was the theme of this Williamsburg Garden Symposium (attended by the Ladybug) as they saluted the making of gardens, gardening people and the wonders they create. Two of the outstanding speakers were Linda Askey, associate garden editor for Southern Living magazine and the garden editor for Southern Accents magazine, and Steven Frowine, vice president for horticulture at White Flower Farm in Litchfield, Conn. For five years he was horticulturist at the Missouri botanical Garden in St. Louis and later held a horticultural position with W. Atlee Burpee Company.

An unusual aspect of Linda's presentation was its division into four 15-minute segments. Vertical Gardens, including various structures used to support climbing plants; Fall Gardens, examples of great autumn gardens from her magazine stories; Garden Re-Dos, showing "before" and "after" improvements in the landscape, and Garden Whimsy, in which she said it was the gardeners choice if he/she wanted flamingos or a painted tire in the garden if it was pleasing, or one could follow the rules of the heart; to make beauty in a garden.

Steve Frowine travels the world looking for new plants to introduce to American gardeners through White Flower Farm's famous catalog. This year they are introducing 150 new plants. His choices came from his travels to England, Germany, Holland, Japan and China. Their company presently has 900 trial plants growing. He noted there are no right or wrong rules for a garden, it is what the gardener enjoys.

Brent Heath of Daffodil Mart in Glocester, Va., showed some of the magnificent new daffodil introductions, and Susan Roundtree demonstrated Entertaining Ideas from Williamsburg. Libbey Oliver demonstrated Drying and Using Dried Flowers Herbs.

Meetings were held in the Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Gallery, a bi-level museum, funded by the late DeWitt Wallace, founder of Reader's Digest. The original building was the first hospital for the mentally ill, built in 1773. Galleries are devoted to masterworks, fine woodworking in the 18th century, furniture, textiles, Colonial Tours, ceramics and musical instruments.

An indoor garden court has used an unusual technique to display blooming orchids on wall lattice work. Each pot was tucked into a wooden square and alternate squares held foliage plants with the orchids used as accent plants.

It is said the average visitor to this restored town of the 18th century, which is said to be America's largest living museum, walks an average of seven miles each day. We agree. It is also said that there are over 100 gardens, and most of these in the historic area are open to the public. Bassett Hall, the house that Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jrs., adapted for their home in the 1930's offers a simple, quaint garden. The campus of William and Mary College is also a beautiful walk.

Overplanting flower beds is common usage among gardeners. In Williamsburg underplanting is the thing. That is, a bed of yellow tulips had yellow pansies on the ground, pink tulips had purple pansies, white tulips has purple muscari or blue ajuga as a ground cover, etc. At no place were the colors of tulips or pansies mixed. This solid mass gave a most pleasing picture. At one little colonial home there were boxes of lavendar and purple pansies on the front walk.

Because all of the tulips were blooming at the same time, it was found that they dig them each year and start with new ones. Because tulip bulbs are a favorite food of rodents and some bulbs just do not return, the gardeners said they could not take these chances so each fall new bulbs are placed.

One can enjoy a potpourri of 18th century music while strolling around listening to fifers, drummers, chamber musicians at George Wythe's house and fiddlers playing popular tunes.

One can see weaving, harness making, care of sheep, silversmiths, gunsmiths, blacksmiths, milliners, wigmakers, shoemakers, a colonial postoffice, and a tour focusing on colonial Virginia government. The Virginia patriots who decided to seek independence and the events that led to the Revolution, and many other historic presentations are given.

Colonial Williamsburg, what a beautiful place in the spring!