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 Enjoying the scents of springFind season's blossoms with help of garden guidebooks
 This greenhouse garden on the Doris Duke estate in Hillsborough, New Jersey, takes inspiration from France. 
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSNEW YORK (AP) -- Dogwood petals rain down in the breeze. The scent of lilacs fills the air. A park turns pink with blooming azaleas. Surprises like this are a hallmark of spring, and a series of guidebooks from Globe Pequot Press called "Gardenwalks" ($14.95 each) lists hundreds of lovely places to enjoy these experiences and more. "Rather than focusing solely on gardens by top designers or those that exhibit rare plants, each 'Gardenwalk' entry expresses what you will find when you wander the paths of a variety of gardens, arboretums, nurseries and parks," said editor Mary Norris. The books "give garden-lovers the choice of many different types of sensory experiences in very beautiful settings." A separate "Gardenwalks" guide covers each of five regions -- New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, California and the Pacific Northwest. What follows is a list of some of the authors' top picks, along with their comments. Check visiting hours before planning your trip; some gardens are open daily year-round, some in spring and summer, some only occasionally or by appointment. New England . "A spectacular garden with a panoramic view of the harbor below and a marvelously designed area of flower beds and intertwining paths," authors Marina Harrison and Lucy D. Rosenfeld wrote in an e-mail describing some of their favorite gardens.. "Elegant and romantic ... beginning with an 1896 Italianate garden with pergola and columns," according to Harrison and Rosenfeld.. "High above the ocean you'll find a grand allee, landscaped to resemble an undulating and unfurling ribbon," they said.. A "quiet walk in the woods" with "one of the premier wildflower collections in the nation." Visitors to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Brooklyn, New York, pause to look at the fish pond in the Japanese garden. . Home and garden of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.. Some 800 varieties of daylilies.. "Ocean views, an Italianate mansion, and a series of garden 'rooms."'. Thirty themed gardens -- Shakespeare, a "cook's" garden, a medieval garden -- adorned with literary quotations.Mid-Atlantic. A rock garden where "alpine flowers and other delights" are interspersed amid stones and water, the authors said. Gardener Ken Eckstein walks across a bridge in the Chinese garden section of the Doris Duke Gardens in Hillsborough, New Jersey. . Highlights include a Japanese garden, fragrance garden, rose garden and cherry blossom festival (April 29-30).. "An intimate, walled garden that captures an enchanting old-fashioned storybook aura.". "Teaching gardens include a bamboo forest that brings Asian art to mind.". Indoor greenhouse gardens on the Doris Duke estate "take you on a voyage from country to country, era to era.". Historic plantings dating to 1728.. Estate gardens inspired by Versailles.. A small, walled colonial garden.. Includes an amazing fox hunt tableau made of yew.Southeast. A "masterpiece" designed by Beatrix Jones Farrand with "exquisite garden 'rooms' in English, French, and Italian styles," according to authors Harrison and Rosenfeld. With the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop, a visitor enjoys the vegetable gardens of Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. . "Thomas Jefferson's inimitable gardens combine history with botanical delights," Harrison and Rosenfeld said.. "Situated on a cliff above a stream, it features an enchanting Japanese garden, an Italianate garden, and a wisteria-covered pergola," they said.. Restored gardens in a community founded by Moravians in the 18th century.. One of the oldest gardens in America, featuring "a camellia maze, ancient live oaks, cypress trees, masses of wildflowers and fine formal gardens.". "This exquisite site includes works by leading American sculptors, a 250-year-old live oak allee, and a wildlife park.". "One of the nation's premier resorts and gardens, it is known for its exceptional azalea collection, its butterfly garden (enclosed in a 7,000-foot octagonal glass house), and its greenhouse gardens," according to Harrison and Rosenfeld.. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.. Japanese museum and garden with "raked sands, carefully placed rocks, and tropical plantings."California. Incredible year-round but with spectacular entry borders in spring featuring "unusual plant forms from around the world," and a rejuvenated Eastern Australian garden, said author Alice Joyce, who writes the "Garden Walks" column for the San Francisco Chronicle, in a phone interview.. "Fabulous estate garden with exuberant displays of bulbs," said Joyce.. A cactus garden, designed for the Stanford family in the 1880s and recently rejuvenated.. Gardens designed like contemporary works of art, such as Earth Walk by Pamela Burton, in which "a massive wedge has been removed from the earth and you are allowed to stroll down a diagonal path, past an expanse of billowy grasses," Joyce said.. (Open unless a concert is taking place.) "Full of intimate spaces, sinuous paths, beds filled with herbs and perennials, along with flowering trees with sculptural forms that reflect on the building's gleaming stainless-steel facade.". "Wisteria, camellias and azaleas embellish lyrical formal garden spaces."Pacific Northwest. From February through June, "bursting with vivid spring floral displays from magnolias to rhododendrons," Joyce said.. "Cultivated gardens and forests and a sweeping view of Puget Sound," with magical springtime displays of wildflowers like trillium.. A commercial nursery; display gardens can be visited by appointment. Founder Dan Hinkley "has created an Arcadian wonderland on the Kitsap Peninsula," Joyce said. "You can find rare plants here that you won't find anywhere else, as well as plants brought back from the wild, propagated and sold by the nursery.". "An amazing cliffside setting on the Willamette River," Joyce said. March is "magnolia month.". "One of the finest classical Japanese gardens outside of Japan," with flowering cherry trees, azaleas, maples, and distinctive bridges.. A storybook garden set amid massive outcroppings, built by a prince and princess who met in Paris in the 1920s, were interned in camps during World War II and later married.Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 
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