FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan. 11, 2007

Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Thomasin Saxe
College of Humanities and Fine Arts
530-898-4642

Custom Garden Tour of Southern England

The College of Humanities and Fine Arts, California State University, Chico, is offering a garden tour to Southern England from May 22 through June 2, 2007. The tour has been designed by history and humanities professor Jeanne Lawrence, who spent time in London and visited many of the garden sites herself.

Lawrence earned her PhD from Yale and holds an MS in the history of architecture from the University of London and an MA in history from UC Riverside. "This is a terrific opportunity for anyone interested in gardens, gardening, landscape design or English arts and culture," said Lawrence.

The tour starts off with London's Chelsea Flower Garden Show, the biggest event of its kind in the gardening world, and then goes on to showcase some of the most famous and influential gardens of 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century England.

"We will be visiting 10 very different gardens," said Lawrence, "including the great 18th-century landscape gardens of Petworth and Stourhead; Heligan, a restored Victorian garden; the early-20th-century gardens of Hestercombe, Hidcote and Sissinghurst, and the contemporary Eden Project which houses plants from around the world."

The tour price includes admission to 10 gardens, as well as the Chelsea Flower Garden Show, and covers Southern England from east to west and locations from urban to small and regional. Many of the garden sites include major country houses with impressive art collections which may also be toured; other opportunities for viewing art include the new Tate-St. Ives museum in Cornwall and the Charleston Farmhouse, the country home of Virginia Woolf and other members of the Bloomsbury Group.

"Gardening is often called the 'English national pastime' because in Britain there is so much interest at all levels of society in gardens and gardening," said Lawrence. "I've enjoyed visiting English gardens in all seasons, but being there in late spring is going to be fantastic! I can't wait to take people who love gardens as much as I do on this tour."

The $3,600 package includes round-trip airfare from San Francisco, airport fees, transfers, first-class hotels, buffet breakfast daily three dinners, and admission to the gardens and the full-time services of a professional tour director.

A tax-deductible portion of the cost goes to college scholarships and programs. The last day to sign up for the tour, unless it fills sooner, is Feb. 21, 2007.

Contact Ms. Thomasin Saxe, group coordinator, at tsaxe@csuchico.edu or 530-898-4642. You may also check the Web: www.csuchico.edu/hfa/travel.

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