THE more than 300 trees at Government House are a living tapestry of historical events, offering an unlikely insight into periods of political upheaval and change. <@$p>Two palms, planted by President John F. Kennedy and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan during their visit in 1961, recall the dangers of the Cold War and the impending Cuban Missile Crisis while a sturdy Bermuda cedar planted by Sir Winston Churchill commemorates his wartime visit in 1942 to thank Bermudians for supporting the establishment of American bases on the island.Committed to a reforestation programme, Lady Vereker has overseen the planting of hundreds of cedar, palmetto, Bermuda olivewood, palms, snowberry and southern hackberry over the last five years.

She invited the Mid-Ocean News’ <$>Tricia Walters and Chris Burvilleon a walk through the 33-acre gardens and endemic and native forests which is home to a large number of birds and monarch butterflies.

But it wasn’t always a forest, Lady Vereker points out.

A year after she and Sir John arrived in Bermuda, more than 900 trees and shrubs were lost in Hurricane Fabian.

“They included many shrubs, just about every citrus tree, the entire banana plantation and hundreds of Chinese palms, fiddlewood, spice trees, all the frangipani, most rose bushes, young cedars and all that was anywhere near a casuarina,” she says, adding that some 60 trees were propped up in an effort to save them.

But Fabian also helped remove the invasive casuarinas lining the North Shore boundary, that up to that point had been encroaching on the endemic trees: “We took over 200 down before the storm and then 45 more fell with Fabian... row after row of them.”

Lady Vereker adds that their massive roots were torn from the ground and looked like Ferris wheels strewn across the property.

It took four months to clear the area, prop up trees and save what they could. The end result - a blank canvas with endless possibilities.

Amazingly enough, a mango tree planted by the future George V in 1880 remained unscathed, as did over 200 trees planted by distinguished guests including a cedar planted by Churchill’s daughter Lady Soames in 2003 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Churchill, Eisenhower and Laniel Summit: “Actually, it was fortunate her father’s tree survived Hurricane Fabian. It stood rather like its planter, as Sir John put it, ‘bloodied, but unbowed’.”

There was no shortage of guests after Fabian to contribute to the replanting effort with Prince Edward planting a Bermuda olivewood, as well as former British<\p>Cabinet Minister Lord Heseltine, who planted a calabash tree.

Other trees include two Bermuda palmettos planted by Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife in the palm grove.

Unlike past Governors, who at time were interested only in maintaining the grounds, Lady Vereker wants to develop it as much as possible.

While clearing invasive species, her staff uncovered several treasures, including a hooded and smiling bronze monk’s face set into a stone wall in a charming stone quarry garden.

Featuring Bermuda limestone, several of these walled gardens have since been discovered, including a “secret” citrus grove.

Over the past five years Lady Vereker has opened the gardens on several occasions to local and visiting artists and photographers who use the garden as a resource and place of inspiration.

“From their studies here, we selected artists’ representations of Government House to use for our Christmas cards,” she explains.

Last year she picked an original oil painting by Christopher M. Grimes, but previous artists’ work include Chris Marson and Sheilagh Head.

Lady Vereker points to a palm planted by Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and says she opens the garden by appointment to Rastafarians who wish to worship at this tree. A stone bench has been placed in the spot for precisely this.

Various organisations also have connections to Government House and its gardens, including the Bermuda Girl Guides who hold camps on the grounds every year and recently buried a time capsule near the slat house.

The Audubon Society, who helped replant more than 80 trees to mark the 50th anniversary of the society, also help maintain the bluebird trail in the grounds.

The society also hosts bluebird workshops on the grounds every year: “It has become a yearly tradition. Whole families come and make bluebird boxes. Every year we produce about 60 to 80 new boxes and the children have the opportunity to see lots of bluebirds.”

In addition to bluebirds, cardinals, chicks-of-the-village, European goldfinches and warblers all visit the gardens and with a chuckle Lady Vereker adds that sometimes a night heron makes itself at home near the swimming pool.

The tour takes us past the stables, once home to horses and grooms, but now abandoned and used to store the gardener’s equipment.

Lady Vereker wants to increase horticultural knowledge and skills in Bermuda and adds that plans are afoot to renovate the stables and use them as a venue for horticultural workshops for the Department of Parks and their staff.

“They can learn about lawn care, trees, pruning, vegetable and flower gardening... all the different aspects that are here,” she says. “In this way the gardens can be used as a living lab.”

During her daily walks throughout the grounds, Lady Vereker enjoys the spectacular views and checks up on the new flower beds which were recently added.

“I am delighted with the new beds,” she says with a smile, adding that they form a “welcome transition” from unbroken blocks of bedding plants and trees.

These include circular beds around each of the spindle palms which holds a glorious arrangements of geraniums, pelargoniums and alyssum.

Lady Vereker adds that her walks allow her to enjoy the bio-diversity of the grounds: the sweep of palms and cedars, the herbaceous borders, the rose gardens - which the Rose Society helped to restore and maintain after Fabian - the citrus grove and the wild narcissi and freesias blossoming around cedars.

>She likes to imagine what it must have been like when the gardens were visited by kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, lords and ladies, who all left their mark on the living tapestry that is Government House today.