Duchess recalls transformation of England's Alnwick Garden

This is the tale of a duchess who set out to create a fabulous public garden in a historic English ruin.

The story of Alnwick Garden -- with its cascading waterfalls and lush plantings -- has all the elements of a fairy tale: romance, royalty, riches, even a touch of magic.

Jane, Duchess of Northumberland, made it all happen without a wand. Instead, she relied on vision, resources and energy -- magical qualities in their own right.

On a recent visit to Chicago, the duchess spoke at the Art Institute about transforming a run-down tract of land into a place that counts Prince Charles among its patrons.

Even royalty has to do a lot of hard work before their fairy tale reaches the happy ending.

Her story begins, of course, with romance dashed by tragedy.

At a young age, Jane fell in love with a fellow student, Ralph Percy, who later became Duke of Northumberland when his older brother died unexpectedly.

The Northumberland holdings in northeast England are huge and include Alnwick Castle, the second largest in the country. It's actually seen in a Harry Potter movie, when the teen wizard and his friends magically fly around on broomstick.

Near the castle, however, was a walled garden that had fallen into ruin.

First built in 1750, the 12-acre area housed spectacular gardens over the centuries, but the hardships of two 20th-century world wars did it in.

It was the duke, her husband, who asked Jane to revive the garden.

Chances are, he wasn't expecting Alnwick Garden, known today for its centerpiece of cascading water, poison garden, large treehouse and several ornamental areas.

"I was asked to build something. Nobody thought I was going to build it the way I did -- on such a grand scale. He's like most husbands who don't really listen to their wives," said Jane in a telephone interview. "He thought of a few bushes and some roses -- boring."

What the duchess had in mind was anything but boring. And the duke was not the only one who failed to share her rather grandiose vision.

Jane started working on the garden in 1996, and while it was under way foot and mouth disease broke out among the livestock at a Northumberland farm -- devastating the economy of the agricultural region.

Critics then blasted the duchess for spending so much money on the garden. Jane said she was compared to Marie Antoinette, who built a village at Versailles while many French were starving, and Imelda Marcos, whose huge collection of shoes was discovered after her husband was ousted as Philippines' president.

During these hard times, the duke attempted to sell a small Raphael painting -- some suggested at least partially to raise funds for the garden project. Art lovers rebelled at the thought of the painting leaving the country, and eventually "The Madonna of the Pinks" was purchased for the National Gallery.

Another controversy arose when Jane hired a Belgian firm -- Wirtz International -- to design the garden. The firm is respected internationally, but is not British.

She defends her decision, saying that English gardening has always borrowed from France and Italy and vice versa.

"The world is a smaller space. We can't afford to be cocooned. There is room for other kinds of gardens," she said.

But a happy ending was in sight. The first phase was opened in 2002 by Prince Charles. And ultimately, the garden -- which has hosted millions of people -- helped revive the region.

Tourism has pumped more than $100 million into the region's economy, Jane said.

Farmers have turned outbuildings into bed-and-breakfasts, and the duchess said the garden gets credit for the opening of 40 new businesses.

The duke and duchess put millions of their own money into the project before turning it into a charity that can raise funds. So far about $92 million has been spent, and Jane is hoping the garden will be completed in three or four years.

The magic that has made this work is appealing to children, says Jane, although she insists Alnwick Garden has attractions and programs for people of all ages.

"Nowadays it's children who determine where families spend weekends and days out," Jane said.

They can play in water features, including the Grand Cascade, the park's centerpiece, where 7,260 gallons of water tumble per minute.

The famous Poison Garden is one way she has found to interest children and prevent them from finding Alnwick Garden boring.

Visitors can only enter the Poison Garden -- inspired by the Medicis of Italy -- with a guide.

Plants -- probably once thought magical -- include hemlock, belladonna, monkshood and wormwood.

The guides spin historic tales of how these plants have killed and cured.

The garden is licensed by the Home Office of the British government to grow controlled substances like cannabis, and works with different drug groups.

"It's a chance for people to talk intergenerationally about drugs, and the children never know that they have been educated," said the duchess.

Dramas are even staged occasionally for children of middle-school age. They don't know until afterward that the people lying under a rosebush or staggering around the treehouse apparently under the influence of drugs are really actors.

It is also important -- especially with new construction -- that a project share its magic with everyone by being accessible, she said.

"In this day and age, excluding a certain group from having the same access is unacceptable."

The huge treehouse -- the duchess calls it the largest in the world -- will have a special play area for children using wheelchairs.

"When you look at children in a playground in wheelchairs they are always looking up," Jane said. "Here they will be looking down. The able-bodied will be looking up at wheelchairs whizzing around."

While in Chicago recently, the royal visitor had a chance to size up the city's Millennium Park.

"For once in my life, I felt like the poor relation," she said. She was impressed with the planning that went into the park and the buildings that serve as a dramatic backdrop.

While she thinks Millennium Park shows cities around the world what they can do with public spaces, she has suggestions for making it even better.

"It needs a fantastic children's playground," she said.