Places to See, Things to do, and the Latest on Travel

YEAR OF THE garden

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Carnation, Lily Lily, Rose, 1885-86, by John Singer Sargent, at Tate Britain; Hampton Court Palace’s Sunken Garden; What Time is it?, 2001, by Gary Hume, at Tate Britain.[/caption]

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IT’S BEEN 200 YEARS since the founding of the Royal Horticultural Society, and British gardens and galleries are celebrating with great bursts of blooming colour, special gardening events, and exhibitions. This might be the best year ever to attend the Society’s flower shows at Chelsea (27th-28th May), Hampton Court Palace (8th-11th July), and Tatton Park (22nd-25th July), as well as the London Flower Shows (September-April). Many more events throughout the country are listed on the Society’s website, www.rhs.org.uk. Email: [email protected], tel: 020 7834 4333.
Hampton Court Palace will host garden tours, events, and exhibitions from March through September, beginning with “Florimania” (19th-22nd March) when the Queen’s Apartments will be filled with spring flowers. Web: www.hrp.org.uk; tel: 020 8241 9818.
Tate Britain is mounting an exhibition called “Art of the Garden” (3rd June-30th August), which examines the relationship between the garden and British art over the last two centuries, with more than 100 works by artists such as Constable, Turner, Freud, and Hume. Web: www.tate.org.uk; tel: 020 7887 8000.
A free 48-page guide, Britain’s Gardens, will help you plot your itinerary through blooming Britain. It’s available from VisitBritain, 551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 701, New York, NY 10176-0799, tel: 800-462-2748, email: [email protected], web: www.visitbritain.com/usa and www.visitbritain.com/gardens.
With so much to see, consider purchasing a Great British Heritage Pass for free admittance to many of the gardens you’ll want to visit. In the U.S., call Britrail (877-677-1066; web: britrail.net). For more information about the pass, see www.visitbritain.com/heritagepass.

SEE SHAKESPEARE’S FIRST FOLIO

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One of the two finest copies of Shakespeare’s First Folio remaining in private hands will be on view June through September at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Visitors can see Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, Published according to the True Originall Copies in a special room at the festival. It contains 18 of Shakespeare’s plays. Scholars think there were probably 750 copies of the First Folio printed, with less than half of them still extant in complete or fragmentary states. On view Thursdays, 11.30 a,m.-12.30 p.m. Viewing tickets tel: 541 -482-4331.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival runs 20th February-31st October and will include seven classic, two contemporary, and two world premiere productions. Box office tel: 541-482-4331; email: [email protected]. Brochure tel: 541-482-2111; email: [email protected]. Web: www.orshakes.org.