Like many of us, I have a curious miscellany magnetically attached to my refrigerator door. One item, a yellowed clipping, offers the following advice: "If you want to be happy for a short time, get drunk; if you want to be happy for a long time, fall in love; if you want to be happy forever, take up gardening."

Virginians must be a happy tribe because we have a gardening tradition stretching across four centuries. Since the 1920s, this tradition has been enhanced by the work of The Garden Club of Virginia. The fruits of this enterprise comprise one of the most remarkable assemblages of gifts ever bestowed on the commonwealth. The GCV has restored or recreated nearly 50 publicly accessible historic gardens and landscapes across the state. This is an unparalleled accomplishment, one that has brought delight to countless visitors.

The engine for The GCV's restoration program is Historic Garden Week, launched in 1929 and held annually since then, except for a period during World War II. Each April, over a span of nine days, the club arranges the opening of more than 200 mostly private homes and gardens from one end of the state to the other. These tours now attract some 30,000 visitors annually, many from out of state.

The organizational skills and cooperation required to manage such a yearly mega-open house are difficult to imagine. The funds generated by each Historic Garden Week, which have exceeded some $13 million in the course of seven decades, are given back to Virginia in the form of beautiful gardens and landscapes.

WE MAY TAKE it for granted that Virginia's most famous historic landmarks have historically appropriate settings. This would not be the case in many instances had it not been for The GCV's generous gifts. Gunston Hall, Stratford, Monticello, Montpelier, and the Executive Mansion, to name a few, have all had their gardens or landscapes enhanced through The Garden Club's restoration program.

Restoring or recreating gardens is a costly undertaking. In addition to designing the layout and choosing proper plant materials, these projects require scholarly research, professional guidance, and often archaeology. Recipients of the projects must commit to permanent maintenance according to stringent standards.

Over the years The GCV has employed noted names in landscape architecture to direct its restorations. Primary among these is Richmond's Charles Gillette, who guided many of the club's earliest projects, beginning in 1929 with Kenmore in Fredericksburg. The club has also received invaluable direction from Colonial Williamsburg garden experts, including Arthur Shurcliff, Alden Hopkins, and Donald Parker. Hopkins directed the first phase of club's most ambitious project, the Jefferson Pavilion gardens at the University of Virginia, completed in 1952. Donald Parker completed the second phase in 1965.

These 10 gardens, each one different and enclosed by their famous serpentine walls, have been enjoyed by more people than any other of the club's restorations -- including thousands of university students. I might note that I first learned the happiness of gardening through being employed to tend the gardens of Pavilions VIII and X in the summer of 1964.

The GCV'S most intriguing project resulted from the discovery through intense archaeological investigation of what may be America's oldest garden, at Bacon's Castle in Surry County. Dating from the late 17th century, surviving archaeological evidence clearly showed the outline of this huge garden. Over several years, starting in 1989, the garden's pattern was gradually exposed. Its subsequent recreation was directed by The GCV's former consultant, Rudy Favretti.

GARDENS SUCH as Bacon's Castle and the many others that exist through the club's generosity are educational as well as cultural resources. They tell us about horticultural traditions and the important relationship between landscape and architecture. They give us insight into the people who first created and tended the gardens. They tell us that Virginians have loved gardens over the centuries.

We can thank The Garden Club of Virginia for its wonderful gifts by joining the ranks of garden lovers each Historic Garden Week and visiting the many homes and gardens that the club and homeowners make available to us. We can also increase our knowledge and love of gardens by exploring the historic gardens and landscapes with which the club has enriched our state.

The Garden Club's Historic Garden Week and restoration program are unprecedented in America. The best part is that there is no end in sight. We can look forward to more restored gardens in the future. The Garden Club of Virginia is well on its way to keeping us happy forever.
Calder Loth is the senior architectural historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and an honorary member of The Garden Club of Virginia.