A Garden Rebirth

Once abandoned, Dunaway Gardens near Atlanta has sprung back to life.

Jennifer Bigham loves the drama of a garden. She has drawn back the curtain of tangled green that once hid Dunaway Gardens and coached it to take center stage as the star it was destined to be. Now more than a dozen flowery milieus vie for your attention on a verdant Georgia hillside.

In the Spotlight

Both Jennifer and Dunaway Gardens boast theatrical pasts. When Jennifer was but a slip of a girl, she would perform for her family. "I'd go cut a rose and put it on my mother's bathrobe and dance to The Lawrence Welk Show," she says.

Dunaway Gardens also hosted such colorful scenes. It was established in the 1920s by Hetty Jane Dunaway, a thespian on the Chautauqua circuit who married a native Georgian. This center, dedicated to the theatrical arts, trained producers, directors, and actors. Hetty Jane enhanced the natural beauty of the camp by adding a floral rock garden backdrop. The facility welcomed many personalities during its heyday years of the twenties, thirties, and forties, from Walt Disney to Sarah Ophelia Colley, better known as Minnie Pearl. When Hetty Jane died in 1961, her beautiful garden fell into decades of neglect.

The Second Act

"In June 2000," Jennifer says with excitement brightening her calm features, "my husband and I walked through a jungle of wisteria and spiders here. Once I laid eyes on it, I was mesmerized. I couldn't sleep at night for thinking about it. I had to buy it."

Jennifer, a nurse with almost-grown sons, felt that working a garden would add a wonderful chapter to her life. "Gardening is similar to nursing," she says. "It's all about care and tending.

"I never planned on having a garden that people would come to see," Jennifer continues. "But when we began to clear, we found a masterpiece. We decided it was a blessing, and we started the restoration to bring it back to its former glory." She hired 20 men, and they toiled for eight months. "All we needed was a bunch of machetes," she says about removing the wisteria, kudzu, and ivy that had taken over.

The Stage Is Set

Today, Dunaway Gardens entertains again with a series of lush tableaux. At the entrance, a huge stacked-rock obelisk rises above four dark pools full of pollywogs. Ballerina roses bloom so profusely, they look like a grandmother's printed skirt.

The central amphitheater sits at the bottom of a rock bowl surrounded by 14 towering magnolias. Tiny waterfalls trip over the top wall and flow around its edges.

Elsewhere, hanging gardens adorn another staircase waterfall. Lacy maidenhair ferns curve along the rock work. After the camp's industrious years, Hetty Jane rented out the cabins. Where the honeymoon cottage once stood, huge hemlocks now whisper of the drama that unfolded at this spot called Shangri-La.

Some of the old trees and shrubs that Hetty Jane planted still survive. Jennifer points out a massive 80-year-old Burford holly and a 200-year-old white oak, now the site of many weddings. Jennifer recently added three tiers of 100 antique roses. "I try to come out here two times a day, not to work, but to enjoy it," Jennifer says.

The most magical spots center around water. Seven natural springs flow onto the property. Shaded retreats thick with Scotch moss invite barefoot tiptoeing. Nearby, Jennifer transformed Hetty Jane's swimming pool into a place for quiet reflection with a large deck and seating. "I think it's the grand finale," she says.

This little bit of Eden may once have been known as Hetty Jane Dunaway Gardens, but now we cherish it as Jennifer's sweet dance.

ANNETTE THOMPSON

Dunaway Gardens: 3218 Roscoe Road, Newnan, GA 30263; (678) 423-4050 or www.dunawaygar dens.com. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday, March 15-November 30. Admission: $10 adults, $8 ages 12 and under.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2004
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