2007, DEAN HOFFMEYER/RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
About half a million lights have strung and hung around Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
The gardens at Lewis Ginter aglow in holiday traditions
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a sanctuary of great beauty that naturally looks its best when the sun is shining.
So, it is worthy of note that the garden attracts some of its biggest crowds in the dead of winter and dark of night.
The annual GardenFest of Lights, featuring more than a half-million lights strung around the garden's 80 acres, has become a holiday tradition in the Richmond area, last year attracting more than 57,000 visitors. The number of lights and visitors has increased dramatically over the years.
This year's GardenFest begins Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving, and ends Jan. 12. Nightly hours are 5-10 p.m., except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day when the garden is closed.
"GardenFest is an opportunity for us to spread our mission to a new audience," said Beth Monroe, a garden spokeswoman. "It was devised as an intentional way to bring people to the garden at a time they would not usually come."
Garden officials hope a good show might bring those first-timers back when the weather is warm and the flowers are in bloom.
Meantime, the garden will shine for six weeks unlike any other time of year.
Just so you know:
The first GardenFest was held in 1995.
Notable displays include a spider web of lights spread over the Sunken Garden (this year's theme is "Nature's Beautiful Web"), a pair of 20-foot butterflies, 10-foot dragonflies and a peacock stretched across the hillside behind the Conservatory. The display features more than 10,000 lights. The best view of the peacock is from the Children's Garden across the lake.
The garden is converting its holiday lights from incandescent to light-emitting diodes (LED), which save up to 98 percent of the electricity needed to power conventional bulbs and are safer because they generate much less heat, said Karl R. Neddenien, a spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power, a primary sponsor of GardenFest. He says residential customers should consider making the switch, too.
"Although these holiday lights cost morethan incandescents, they can pay for themselves in the first year of electricity savings," Neddenien said.
This year, GardenFest will feature more than 18 miles of LED light strands.
GardenFest is obviously a major undertaking for the garden, which does the job with staff and volunteers. Planning goes on year-round. Workers begin putting up the lights in August, although many of the lights -- particularly ground-cover lights -- must wait until leaves fall and are removed.
The garden's equivalent of Santa's workshop is a large room in the basement of the Education and Library Complex. There, lights are stored, and staff and volunteers almost magically create many of the decorations, using dried flowers, cones and other materials from the garden.
Volunteers contribute more than 1,700 hours during GardenFest.
After the conclusion of GardenFest, it takes six to eight weeks for workers to take down the lights and pack them in storage.
On cold nights, a warm retreat is the glass Conservatory, where temperatures are kept at a minimum of 45 degrees in the west and north wings for the holiday cottage, the model trains and the 19-foot Christmas tree (think family photo). In the east wing where the orchids grow, the air temperature is maintained at a minimum 55 degrees. In reality, it might feel a little warmer, as the plants are kept warm by root-zone heating.
What exactly is root-zone heating? Hot water circulates through rubber hoses that heat the soil so air temperatures can be held to moderate levels. Call it energy efficiency.
A popular feature of GardenFest is the Wall of Memories, in the Education and Library Complex, where visitors write answers to the annual question on sticky notes and post them. Last year, more than 17,000 notes were posted answering the question: What is your wish for the world?
Three hundred yards of ribbon are used with handmade decorations in the Robins Room in the Visitors Center.
On Monday evenings, free s'mores will be available in the Children's Garden (while supplies last).
Visitors can bring their leashed pets to GardenFest on Jan. 8. An additional $2 suggested pet admission will benefit the Richmond SPCA.
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