The question posed at the beginning of this narrative asked why a botanical garden for Norfolk and the answer, to be certain, is the story told in the book itself. But it is also answered in the connection each of us make to this special place, whether we live in Hampton Roads or are just visiting. Gardens should surprise and comfort you. Anatole France (1844-1924), the French poet, journalist, and novelist, could have been addressing countryman and father of the Norfolk Botanical Garden Fred Heutte when he sagely observed: To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe.
Fred Heutte was a dreamer with a plan who believed that the garden he shepherded for nearly three decades would ultimately fulfill its destiny and take an honored place among the United States’ premier botanical gardens-and it has.