MANTEO — The Washington Garden Club recently lent a helping hand to the Elizabethan Gardens of Manteo to help fund its operations.

The Washington Garden Club presented The Elizabethan Gardens Board of Governors with a $300 donation on July 22.

Donations from the Washington Garden Club, and other garden clubs across the state affiliated with the Garden Club of North Carolina, are how the Elizabethan Gardens sustains itself, according to Sally Brodie, president of the Washington club.

“We just felt obligated to do our part, especially since we have several people on the board there who have done a great deal for the garden,” Brodie said.

The Garden Club of NC sponsors the Elizabethan Gardens, as well as two other gardens across the state: the Martha Frank Fragrance Garden in Raleigh, a garden located next to a school for blind children so students can distinguish the different textures and fragrances of the flowers; and the Daniel Boone Garden in Boone, a wildflower garden, according to Sandra Snapp, a member of both the Washington Garden Club and the Elizabethan Gardens Board of Governors.

The three gardens depend on support from fundraising efforts and donations from clubs across the state to purchase equipment, pay staff and fund its operations, Snapp said. Revenue is also generated from those who visit the garden.

The Elizabethan Gardens was the first established by the Garden Club of NC, and celebrates its 65^th anniversary this year, according to an Elizabethan Gardens press release. The garden was set up as a memorial to the colonists that came to Roanoke Island from England, according to Snapp.

The gardens include a rose garden, which boasts a rose from Queen Elizabeth, as well as a rose planted in honor of Virginia Dare. Hydrangeas, camellias and azaleas are also featured in the gardens.

“It’s a beautiful garden,” Snapp said. “It’s very formal in some respects, and in other ways, it’s very casual. It has seasonal beauty, but there is something blooming all the time.”

The Elizabethan Gardens is located at 1411 National Park Drive in Manteo. For more information, call 252-473-3234.