Open days at island gardens

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program begins its 2004 season of garden tours in the Seattle region today by showcasing five private gardens on Bainbridge and in Kingston.

Featured this year are the perennial-laden woodland paths at the Waterman Garden, 6886 Wing Point Road; the Kinsman garden, 2002 winner of the Pacific Northwest Garden Contest, 9245 Fox Cove Lane; the Roose garden, with its profusion of flowering trees and central “Wedding Grove,” 14796 Sivertson Road; Agate Nursery Garden, with forest and pond replete with wildlife and a unique collection of perennials, 16675 Mariner Avenue.

Also on the tour is the world-renowned Heronswood nursery and garden, which specializes in rare and unusual plants, 7530 288th Street in Kingston. Art in the garden includes work by island artists Little and Lewis.

Founded in 1989, the Garden Conservancy is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving exceptional American gardens for the public’s education and enjoyment.

This year’s Open Days program shares 27 private gardens in the region, each an outstanding example of design and horticultural practice, with more than 450 gardens participating nationwide.

Visitors may begin the April 24 tour at the Waterman Garden, 6886 Wing Point Road, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to each garden is $5, and no reservations are required. Tours take place rain or shine.

A second tour of Bainbridge gardens will be held July 17.

For more information about area tours, or to purchase a directory of featured gardens, visit www.gardenconservancy.org or contact the Garden Conservancy at (888) 842-2442.

In Fog of War, cause is clear

This Sunday, the Lynwood Theatre hosts a benefit screening of the Oscar-winning documentary, “The Fog of War,” to raise funds for landmine eradication and survivor support in Southeast Asia.

Errol Morris’ film on the life of Robert McNamara and his role in the Vietnam War received an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2003.

Proceeds from the 7:30 p.m. Sunday screening of the film will benefit Clear Path International, a Bainbridge-based nonprofit that runs landmine survivor assistance projects in Vietnam, Cambodia and on the Thai-Burma border.

Clear Path’s largest humanitarian effort, now in its fourth year, is in the provinces north and south of the former Demilitarized Zone in central Vietnam, once known as the McNamara Line.

In this region, where civilians are still killed or injured by unexploded ordnance weekly, Clear Path has helped hundreds of mine survivors with medical and social services.

“This important film brings attention to a chapter in our country’s history from which we continue to learn,” said Imbert Matthee, Clear Path’s president. “What isn’t so well known about the war is that its aftermath also continues in the form of landmine and bomb accidents in central Vietnam almost every week.”

Clear Path will have a display of its survivor assistance efforts throughout the film’s run, which plays at the Lynwood through April 29.

“The Fog of War: 11 Lessons From the Life Of Robert S. McNamara” is rated PG-13. Show times are 3 p.m., 5:15 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday, and 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Ticket price for the Sunday evening benefit showing is $7.50. Information: 842-3080.

Citizens speak about wild isle

The public is invited to attend a special meeting to discuss the Critical Areas Ordinance (BIMC 16.20), at 7 p.m. April 27 in the City Hall council chambers.

Citizen groups will present the results of their work on four major issues related to the protection of wetlands and wildlife on Bainbridge.

The meeting is part of a state-mandated review of the city’s Critical Areas Ordinance, to be completed by December.

Information: 842-2552 or pcd@bbci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us.