Public Gardens Down South That Will Have You Whistling 'Dixie'

Some travel in search of museums or cathedrals, good restaurants or an uncrowded beach. My travels often take me in search of gardens. Some are large and rambling, others small and intimate. But they provide a ready source of information on the local flora and growing conditions, and often insights into the attitudes, interests and, yes, passions of the people who created them.

It your travels take you south for Virginia's Historic Garden Week, you may want to make arrangements to visit some of the South's other notable public gardens. Here is a sampling (unless otherwise noted, admission is free).

WASHINGTON

DUMBARTON OAKS. (R and 31st Streets, N.W.) This is an intimate public garden with a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the talents of landscape artist Beatrix Farrand.

The owners' desire was to create a garden in America that would incorporate elements of traditional French, English and Italian gardens. Today, the gardens are managed, as part of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, by Harvard University.

Within these gardens you'll find a depth of plantings and design not often found in gardens 10 times the size. Old oaks, an enormous spreading katsura and weeping cherries share the space with masses of spring bulbs and herbaceous perennials. The double row of American hornbeams in the ellipse are clipped into a hedge 10 feet high and 15 feet wide, to make an elegant architectural statement. There are 11 pools and nine fountains.

Dumbarton Oaks is open daily, April through October, from 2 to 6 p.m. Admission: $2; children and senior citizens: $1. Information: 202-342-3200.

THE U.S. NATIONAL ARBORETUM. (3501 New York Ave., N.E.) Established by an act of Congress in 1927, the arboretum is concerned primarily with educating the public and with conducting research on trees and shrubs. Within its 444 acres, you'll find plants arranged in various combinations. Groupings of hollies, crab apples, azaleas, magnolias, irises, day lilies, rhododendrons and maples are arranged for landscape effect. For bonsai and herb lovers, there are special areas: