For Immediate Release: May 10, 2007
GARI MELCHERS HOME AND STUDIO TO OFFER MONTICELLO GARDENS TRIP, JUNE 8
Fredericksburg, Va. – Gari Melchers Home and Studio will host a bus trip to Monticello Gardens on Friday, June 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost, which includes tour, lunch and transportation, is $65 for members of Friends of Belmont and $80 for non-members.
Join fellow gardeners as they journey west to the mountains to discover historic gardens and rare plants.The group will first tour Thomas Jefferson’s gardens at Monticello and then head to Tufton Farm, one of many satellite farms owned by Jefferson. Today the farm is home to the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants, which is not generally open to the public.
After enjoying a picnic lunch on the grounds, Peggy Cornett, director of the Center for Historic Plants, will give the group a private tour highlighting the rose border and the Léonie Bell Noisette Rose Collection.This rare collection contains more than 30 different Noisettes and some ancient one-of-a-kind specimens.
Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont is a 26-acre estate and former residence of the American figure painter Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne. The property, which is part of the University of Mary Washington, is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. Located at 224 Washington St. in Falmouth, Va., a quarter mile west of the intersection of U.S. 1 and U.S. 17, it is open daily with an admission charge. For more information or to register, contact Grounds Preservation Supervisor Beate Jensen at (540) 654-1839 or bjensen@umw.edu.
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News release prepared by: Andrea Christie