State

w ж lighthouses ом visitors to North Carolina's Outer Banks travel miles for white sandy beaches, towering ithousesand shifting sand dunes. The last thing they expect to find at the beach is a traditional English flower garden. But on Roanoke Island that is exactly what awaits them. Nestled beneath the trees of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on the north end of the island, the Elizabethan Cardens have become a spe¬ cial place of peace and natural beauty amidst the crush of tourist-laden beach re¬ sorts at Nags Head and Kitty Hawk. Although they arc rapidly becoming one of the niajoi attractions on the Outei Banks, (visitors from all 50 states and 4-1 foreign countries visited the Cardens last year), they remain, for now, somewhat of a secret. Hie colorful, serene gardens are home to hundreds of species of wildflowcrs. herbs, trees and shrubs, as well as a sub¬ stantial collection of valuable antique gar¬ den ornaments and ancient statuary. Masses of blooming rhododendron, tulips, a/aleasaud dogwoods peak in late April. Magnolias, lilies and hydrangeas reach bloom through late July. And marigolds, impatiens and hibiscus pro¬ vide brilliant autumn color. While the peak of the blooming season is from late spring to midsummer, the ap|>cal ol the ( hardens is evident on a year- round basis. Dozens of brides have been married here in the spring and fall. Even a rare recent Outer Banks snowstorm transformed the Gardens into a wintci fantasy. Yet they are more than a pleasure to the 77ie Ehitibethan Gardens are mare than just beautiful flowers; they're a state of mind. senses. They” were created with a unique purpose in mind, one that reflects the Elizabethan heritage ol Roanoke Island and North Carolina. Wedged between the Outer Banks and the mainland. Roanoke Island is one of the most historic pieces of real estate in North Carolina. It was here in 1587 that 1 1 7 men, women and children enlisted by Sir Walter Raleigh established the first English settlement in the New World, at the height of Queen Elizabeth's monar¬ chy in England. As most Tar I leel history buffs know, the colony vanished without a trace, creating one of America's most enduring mysteries. The Elizabethan Gardens were con¬ ceived nearly 50 years ago as a memorial to the colonists. In 1950, Mrs. Charles Cannon, a former chairperson of the Roanoke Island Historical Association, and two British guests were visiting Fort Raleigh National I listoric Site. During the course of their tour. Cannon and her guests came up with the idea to develop a memorial garden. Cannon pitched her idea to the Garden Club of North Carolina, which immedi¬ ately went to work on preliminary plans. Soon after. Cannon and the Club devel¬ oped a landscape blueprint for a modest two-acre garden costing $10,000. Pat¬ terned after traditional English gardens, the Roanoke Island garden, when com¬ pleted. would evoke the feel of those the colonists had known in their homeland. A year later, the Garden Club leased a tract of land from the Roanoke Island His¬ torical Association, producers of the adja¬ cent outdoor drama. The Lost Colony. I he lease called for payment of $1 for a peri¬ od of 99 years. As luck would have it. a Georgia gen¬ tleman would prove to be the catalyst for evolving those initial small-scale plans into a much larger project I lay Whitney, a for¬ mer ambassador to the court of St. James, had spent his years in Europe collecting a number of priceless sculptures and arti¬ facts. I le imported them as ornaments for the spacious grounds of his shooting club plantation. Greenwood, in Thomasville. Georgia. Among the statuary he owned was a stunning ancient Italian fountain and pool, a set of four statues in the likeness of Roman gods and goddesses, a porplnry The State/April 1WS 16