The Bodnant Story

The English garden lecturer Walter Wilde will talk about one of Europe's most famous gardens in a slide lecture, "Paradise Regained: The Bodnant Story," tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the Bridgehampton Community House.

The talk is one in a continuing series of garden lectures organized by the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons.

Bodnant, the house and gardens of the Aberconway family in North Wales, is considered the finest garden in the world by many people, says Mr. Wilde.

He himself has visited the gardens every year for 30 years and has never failed to find something new. He calls Bodnant "a complete garden education."

Mr. Wilde, who has come from England to give the talk, is a widely traveled lecturer, author, and landscape designer who has organized and led garden tours for more than 25 years.

The lecture is free to members, $5 for nonmembers. The following week, on April 19, there will be the concluding program in the Alliance's workshop for beginning gardeners.

Ten Little Dogwoods

Gardeners may also be interested in knowing that anyone who joins the National Arbor Day Foundation this month will be given 10 white-flowering dogwood trees.

Dogwoods are ideal trees for the garden with their showy spring flowers, scarlet autumn foliage, and red berries, which attract songbirds in the winter.

The trees, actually very small saplings, will be shipped at the right time for planting with instructions enclosed. They are guaranteed to grow or they will be replaced free of charge.

Members will also receive the foundation's bimonthly "Arbor Day" publication and a small book with information about tree-planting and care.

To become a member, a $10 contribution should be sent to 10 Free Dogwoods, National Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, Neb. 68410, before the end of the month.